This week, Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading above $80,000 per token, and on Tuesday morning, it hit $81,000. That news will be music to the ears of cryptocurrency investors as it marks the first time that Bitcoin has traded above that level since January.
But what exactly is driving Bitcoin’s price to rise above the psychologically important barrier? Here are two of the biggest factors impacting BTC’s rise this week.
Movement in the Strait of Hormuz
Geopolitical tensions have made many assets highly volatile this year, particularly gold, stocks, and cryptocurrencies.
The latest geopolitical impact on these assets came from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran in February, which is currently under a fragile ceasefire.
That war has led to Iran declaring the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s busiest and most critical supply lanes—closed, which has caused the price of oil to spike.
Over the weekend, President Trump rejected an Iranian peace proposal, which would have seen the strait reopen. But on Monday, Trump announced “Project Freedom,” a plan that will see the U.S. military escort oil tankers and other ships through the strait, thereby getting fuel supply chains moving again.
The news sent the price of a barrel of oil down to around $104 as of this writing, from highs of around $127 late last week.
