Bitcoin climbs above $79,000, Asian equities rise amid 'subdued' geopolitical tensions

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies rose, while Asian equities mostly traded higher on Monday morning amid "subdued" geopolitical tensions, analysts said.

Bitcoin climbed 2% in the past 24 hours to $79,110 as of 10:50 p.m. ET Sunday, according to The Block's crypto price page. Ethereum gained 3% to trade at $2,388.

Most Asian equities traded higher on Monday morning. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.4% during the morning session to hit a record high, while South Korea's Kospi added 1.9% to reach a new peak. China's CSI 300 gained 0.35%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.06%.

"Crypto's upside is being driven by steady ETF inflows and a structural breakout above key technical levels, reinforcing a strong underlying bid," Dominick John, an analyst of Zeus Research, told The Block. "At the same time, subdued geopolitical tensions have eased risk-off sentiment, with the Fear & Greed Index shifting from fear toward neutral."

Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. saw steady inflows, recording a weekly inflow of $823.7 million last week, marking their fourth consecutive week of positive flows, according to SoSoValue. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index also rose to 47, returning to the "Neutral" zone from around 29 in "Fear" last week and 12 in "Extreme Fear" last month.

"This points to a market transitioning back into measured risk-on positioning," said John.

Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, shared similar views, noting that the crypto price movement stems from a mix of renewed risk appetite, a technical breakout, and revised positioning following the market's reclamation of key resistance levels.

"The move can stretch longer if spot demand keeps leading, but traders are mainly watching whether BTC can hold above the $80,000 to $83,000 zone," said Ruck, adding that traders will also monitor the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on April 29, along with other key economic data releases.

US-Iran fatigue 

On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly canceled plans to send U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to Pakistan for negotiation with Iran.

"Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their 'leadership,'" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social announcing the cancellation, though the post appeared to have been taken down.

Despite this development, bitcoin maintained its upward momentum as traders have already factored in the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, analysts said. 

Min Jung, research associate of Presto Research, said that previous narratives like U.S.-Iran tensions have "largely been absorbed," with investors showing fatigue and no longer reacting meaningfully. Jung added that there are currently no clear catalysts, with no headlines materially impacting the crypto market.

"For this week, traders are mainly focused on the FOMC meeting and a heavy slate of big tech earnings, which are expected to be the key drivers of direction," said Jung.