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The opening of the U.S. trading session brought an unexpected surprise to the market: in just over the past 24 hours, oil prices have jumped by a total of 12% from local lows, as per TradingView data. Against the backdrop of a surge in oil prices, flagship cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and XRP are showing anomalous resilience and even growth, ignoring the inflationary pressure of expensive energy on risk assets.
U.S. oil, under the ticker WTI, has come close to the $103 per barrel level, gaining on average about $1 per hour since 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The market is trying to guess the right scenario ahead of negotiations later this week regarding the situation in the Middle East.
Why Bitcoin and XRP are surging alongside crude
Expensive energy is directly feeding into inflation expectations, raising questions about the Federal Reserve’s next steps, including its rate decision at the end of April. At the same time, today’s move may also have been influenced by fresh GDP data — U.S. economic growth slowed below expectations to 0.5%, effectively confirming that the largest economy in the world is entering a stagflation phase.
It can be assumed that investors see the stock market stalling due to weak GDP and fiat currencies losing value due to rising energy prices, and in this environment, capital is searching for alternatives. Bitcoin has risen to $71,800, up 1.5%. XRP, as a key retail-driven asset, is showing even more aggressive growth at $1.79%, currently trading around $1.34.
It is possible that we are witnessing the emergence of a new trend, where cryptocurrencies are no longer seen as simple risk assets, but in conditions of declining GDP and an oil-driven crisis, they are becoming a logical hedging instrument, replacing weaker equities and traditional safe-haven assets such as gold in portfolios.
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team
