Bitcoin nears $70K as PMI boost sees BTC price leave Iran woes behind

Bitcoin (BTC) surged toward $70,000 after Monday’s Wall Street open as crypto markets diverged from US stocks.

Key points:

• Bitcoin reacts to positive US manufacturing data as bulls manage to sideline geopolitical tensions.

• BTC price action leaves stocks wrestling with macro uncertainty to retarget $70,000.

  

• Traders stay highly skeptical that the market will begin a true recovery.

BTC price suddenly eyes $70,000 despite Iran events

Data from TradingView confirmed daily BTC price gains passing 5% as the US trading session began.

The fallout from the ongoing Middle East conflict appeared to have no sway over Bitcoin bulls as BTC/USD hit $69,788 on Bitstamp, its highest level since Feb. 25.

“No re-test levels, just straight up on $BTC and $ETH to start the week,” trader Castillo Trading responded in one of their latest posts on X.

Castillo Trading flagged declining sell-side influence of largest global exchange Binance.

“Decent range has formulated since the lows of last weekend, but a lot of work needs to be done so that this range can continue to hold and actually range,” they continued in a further post.

Things are looking a lot more organic when it comes to Binance spot $BTC selling. Even when they are selling, price is not reacting as much as it has been previously.

Seems like they no longer have a threshold on the price of #Bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/EFwgBimDBX

— Castillo Trading (@CastilloTrading) March 2, 2026

A popular explanation was the latest Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) Report from the Institute of Supply Management (ISM), released on the day.

Above the key 50 mark, PMI confirmed US industry returning to growth after a three-year hiatus.

“Bitcoin trading well on strong US manufacturing this morning and elevated prices paid,” Nik Bhatia, founder of global macro research company The Bitcoin Layer, commented. 

“Last month’s above 50 print confirmed today, the manufacturing industry is back in expansion after three years of contraction.”

Last month, Cointelegraph reported on the implications of PMI for BTC price strength, with the two traditionally positively correlated.

Bitcoin bear market similarities remain

Many other market participants preferred caution, including analytics account Wealthmanager, which noted the significance of $69,000 as a resistance zone.

Related: ‘This is not World War III:’ Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

$BTC is at resistance here.

Watch out with longs. pic.twitter.com/M87YtDZOms

— Wealthmanager (@Wealthmanager) March 2, 2026

“Pretty obvious bear flag formation to me,” trader Roman argued about daily time frames.

Roman uploaded a chart showing both relative strength index (RSI) and moving average convergence/divergence (MACD) indicator data diverging from the price.

“MACD/RSI completely resetting for another move lower. Still eyeing 52k area,” he told X followers.

Reporting signals from one of its proprietary trading tools, trading resource Material Indicators also avoided optimism. 

Bitcoin, it said, remained in lock step with its 2022 bear market, with advance downside cues overlapping.

“We’re starting March with up signals from both Trend Precognition algos on the $BTC Monthly chart. Like so many other similarities I’ve been highlighting with 2022, this is consistent with what we saw in March 2022,” an X post stated. 

“That said, with a new war, growing geopolitical chaos, tariff uncertainty, and an erratic U.S. President, there is no shortage of potential catalysts that could invalidate this signal, so some caution is warranted here.”

Material Indicators cofounder Keith Alan said that $69,000 was the first key reclaim hurdle to ensure a “durable” BTC price recovery.

“BTC bulls just took out resistance at $69k and are sizing up the next Timescape Level around $71.3k. But first, they’ll need to feed on ask liquidity at $70k,” he added.