Strong showing

Bitcoin rose about 4% in 24 hours as it crossed over a $72,000 mark that has proven stubbornly resistant in recent weeks. The defiant spree — BTC got close to $73,000 at one point earlier this morning — occurred amidst soaring energy prices and with the dollar gaining strength. 

BTC traders will watch for a quick day trip to $74K which could well trigger an adieu to the $60K-$70K range-bound ankle bracelet that has been in place since early February.

Meanwhile, some altcoins are making a stir heading into the weekend. Official Trump (TRUMP) surged by as much as 50% following an announcement that about 300 top holders would get to attend a gala luncheon with the sitting U.S. president.

Cloaked in green ahead of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are a trio of AI-related tokens, TAO, RENDER and FET, each having gained 12%-15% since this time yesterday.

Additionally, PI, ahead of a major listing announcement, popped by 10%.

The eyes of the world remain fixated on the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil supply travels, and which has been effectively shut down since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February. 

Oil spiked again on Thursday while stocks declined. Oil prices had ticked down as of early Friday. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, as of 8:42 a.m. (EST), oil futures were trading near $94, down 1.6%. Brent futures, after crossing $100 on Thursday, fell 1% to $99.

In a note on Friday morning, Barclays’ Emmanuel Cau said that commodities investors, after initially pricing in a short war, were becoming increasingly jittery. And so the longer the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, “the more stagflationary markets will turn,” Cau added.

U.S. economic growth in Q4 of ’25 turned out to be even more stagnant than expected, according to statistics published today by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. Last quarter, America’s GDP rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate of merely 0.7%.

On Thursday, War Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon “we have been dealing with [the situation in the Hormuz Strait] and don’t need to worry about it.” Also yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. Navy, and possibly an international coalition, would begin escorting ships as soon as “militarily possible.” (CNBC)

The era of staked digital asset ETFs has been underway since the fall but yesterday it kicked into overdrive with the launch of BlackRock’s new Shares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB). 

The Nasdaq-listed fund gives investors spot ETH exposure while also concurrently letting them earn staking rewards. 

ETHB begins its life with about $100 million in assets under management. Impressively, it saw $16 million worth of trading volume on day one. ETHB rounds out BlackRock’s existing crypto ETF lineup, which includes the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). The former, IBIT, has garnered some $55 billion while the latter, ETHA, has roughly $6.5 billion. 

Per its prospectus, ETHB at a given time will stake between 70%-95% of its Ether holdings so as to generate a targeted annual yield of 4%. 

BlackRock's U.S. head of equity, Jay Jacobs, told Decrypt he expects there’ll be some movement of funds from ETHA to ETHB and that the new fund may also help draw in ETH investors who previously wouldn’t have been interested in a non-staked ETH-based fund. “I think there's going to be a significant shift from people who are just owning ETH directly into ETHB,” he said.