Bitcoin seeks support above $81K as Brent crude oil hits highest level since March

Bitcoin ($BTC) saw a fresh dip below $81,000 after Friday’s Wall Street open as Brent crude oil set new seven-month highs.

Key points:

• Bitcoin briefly dropped below $81,000 at the start of Friday’s US trading session as stocks drifted lower and the US 10-year yield remained below 5%.
• Brent crude oil reached $116 per barrel for the first time since March 19 amid Middle East tensions.
• $BTC price action focused on reclaiming its 50-day simple moving average at $81,781.

US stocks slip, bond yields cool as oil surges

Data from TradingView showed $BTC/USD falling to $80,988 before recovering to around $81,600 at the time of writing.

$BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

US stocks opened lower as AI-sector expenditure woes coincided with a surge in oil prices on the back of tensions around the US-Iran war.

The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index were down 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively, at the time of writing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.4% lower.

As traders turned risk-averse, the 10-year US bond yield stayed below 5%, having reached 4.939% on Thursday, their lowest since Sept. 23.

US 10-year bond yield one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Concerns that the US may renew military strikes on Iran around the midterm elections sent WTI crude oil past $102 per barrel on Friday. This is the highest level since Sept. 16. Brent crude saw an even sharper rise of nearly 3% to $116 per barrel, a level last seen in mid-March.

CFDs on Brent crude oil one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Commenting, economist Robin Brooks noted that prices were rising although oil flows through the Persian Gulf approached pre-war levels for many nations and Saudi Arabia surpassed its pre-war average.

“Since the start of the war, we’ve not seen this kind of decoupling between prices and flows,” he wrote in analysis on the day, seeing markets incorporating a “huge risk premium.”

Persian Gulf oil-transit volumes (screenshot). Source: Robin Brooks on Substack.com

$BTC price analysis eyes 50-day trend line

Commenting on low-timeframe $BTC price action, Keith Alan, cofounder of crypto trading platform Material Indicators, saw the potential for lower support retests to come.

Related: Here’s what happened in crypto today

$BTC/USD, he noted, had fallen below its 50-day simple moving average (SMA) at $81,781, with bulls now attempting to reclaim it by the daily close.

“If they fail to do so by tonight’s close, I’m looking for a support test in the $78k - $80k range,” he told X followers.

$BTC/USD one-day chart with 50 SMA. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Previously, Cointelegraph reported on substantial $BTC price support between $80,000 and $81,500, as this area hosts the aggregate cost basis for investors in the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).