Bitcoin rose as much as 3.7% to above US$74,400 on March 16 as traders reacted to uncertainty in the Middle East and ether rose as much as 6.9%, while Solana and XRP climbed 6.1% and 4.7% respectively.
The rally comes as bitcoin has outperformed traditional safe-haven assets this month, while gold has moved lower. Bitcoin is up 12.5% this month while gold is down 4.9%.
Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, said retail and strategic buyers appear to be returning, and a break through US$75,000 now looks possible.
Net inflows to the 12 US-listed, spot Bitcoin ETFs totalled about US$763 million last week and have reached US$1.3 billion so far in March. Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets, said BlackRock’s IBIT made up roughly 78% of those flows.
Jeff Mei, chief operating officer at BTSE, also pointed that if the conflict eases, Bitcoin could recover toward US$100,000, but if it drags on, it could fall toward US$60,000.
🔗 Source: Bloomberg
Originally written by: Aiko Gao Ishida
Source: Tech in Asia
Published on: 16 March 2026
Link to original article: Bitcoin leads gains with $1.3 billion in March
