The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.9% with two stocks declining for every one that rose, after surging the most in a year on Wednesday’s ceasefire euphoria. S&P 500 and European futures pointed to a 0.2% decline, signaling the four-day winning streak for global equities was about to end. Treasuries were steady after wiping out an earlier rally on concern that higher oil prices would feed back into inflation.

Meanwhile, The Federal Reserve continues to highlight upside inflation risks alongside softening labor conditions, keeping the higher-for-longer rate narrative intact. Japan’s wage growth has hit multi-decade highs, strengthening expectations for further rate hikes.

That combination amounts to what one analyst described as “uncoordinated tightening” across major economies, layered on top of geopolitical uncertainty that prevents any stable anchor for rate expectations.

For bitcoin specifically, the move from $67,000 to $72,700 on the ceasefire and the subsequent hold above $70,000 despite Thursday’s wobble is the most constructive price action since the war began six weeks ago.

The $65,000 to $73,000 range that has contained every move since late February is still intact, but bitcoin is now testing the upper half rather than grinding along the bottom.

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Encryption Supremacy - Zcash and Privacy in the Age of Scale

Most crypto privacy models weaken as blockchain data grows. Encryption-based models like Zcash strengthen. CoinDesk Research maps the five privacy approaches and examines the widening gap.

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As blockchain adoption scales, the metadata available to machine learning models scales with it. Obfuscation-based privacy approaches are structurally degrading as a result. This report provides a comprehensive comparison of all five major crypto privacy architectures and a framework for evaluating which models remain durable as AI capabilities improve.

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(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Morgan Stanley’s low-fee bitcoin ETF debuted with strong early trading, signaling demand as competition shifts to cost and distribution.

What to know:

  • Morgan Stanley’s new spot bitcoin ETF, trading under the ticker MSBT, launched Tuesday with more than 1.6 million shares traded and about $34 million in inflows.
  • The fund tracks the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark 4 PM New York Settlement Rate and charges a 0.14 percent expense ratio, making it the cheapest…

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