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(Bloomberg) \u2014 Bitcoin has spent most of this year trapped between $60,000 and $75,000, repeatedly teasing a breakout but never quite delivering one.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n <\/span>or<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n The original cryptocurrency is beating stocks and gold since the Iran war broke out, but that says more about how far it had already fallen than where it\u2019s headed. The token is down more than 40% from an October peak.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n On Monday, Bitcoin rose as much as 3.7% before paring gains to trade at about $73,447 in early morning in New York. Recently, every rally follows the same script, and invariably they prove short-lived in a market otherwise occupied by gyrations in oil, metals and commodities.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cYou see the pattern. Market goes up a bit, open interest builds, funding rates tilt negative on Bitcoin, then we squeeze higher,\u201d said Jasper De Maere, desk strategist and OTC trader at Wintermute, a crypto market-maker. A negative funding rate suggests short-sellers are paying a premium to maintain their positions, suggesting bearish market sentiment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n Compared with late 2025, when Bitcoin oscillated for months between $85,000 and $95,000, trading today is thinner, he added. And that makes the token more vulnerable to sudden price swings.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n Bitcoin began a months-long slide in October, just days after touching a record of above $126,000. Some $19 billion in leveraged crypto bets were wiped out on Oct. 10. Since then, prices have ground steadily lower, with conviction notably absent from each fleeting rebound. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n It\u2019s a pattern seen in previous crypto bear markets: a sharp selloff, a 20% retracement, and then a stall, according to Andreja Cobeljic, head of derivatives trading at AMINA Bank. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the momentum to break out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n For now, the interest lies elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n Crude oil surged nearly 70% in the days after the US-Israel escalation with Iran, jumping from about $70 a barrel to as high as $120 before settling near $100. Aluminum is near record highs. Gold has remained relatively flat since the Iran strikes began, weighed down by a stronger dollar and rising yields, after rallying 65% last year \u2014 a period in which Bitcoin retreated.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n It all amounts to a broad rotation into hard assets that\u2019s left digital alternatives languishing. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n Jeff Currie, chief strategy officer at Carlyle Energy Pathways, drew a comparison with the commodity boom that followed the dot-com bubble, a period he described as \u201cthe revenge of the old economy.\u201d This time around, he called for holding HALO assets \u2014 heavy assets, low obsolescence. \u201cI want to own metal, I want to own gold, I want to own oil,\u201d he said in a Bloomberg TV interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n![\"bitcoins](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/21.0.2\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-fp.svg\" "\\"bitcoins\\""){kind=logo}
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