Bitcoin extended gains and regained the $72,000 level even as the United States showed simultaneous signs of rising inflation and slowing growth.

Cointelegraph reported on Wednesday that this was seen as reflecting investors shifting their focus to scarce assets as recession risks grew and the dollar weakened.

The rebound followed changes in U.S. macro indicators. The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said February core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) prices rose 0.4 percent from the previous month. U.S. fourth-quarter annualised gross domestic product (GDP) growth was revised down to 0.5 percent. With inflation proving sticky and growth weakening, markets increasingly viewed recession risks as rising.

Concerns about an economic slowdown typically weigh on risk assets, but a different pattern emerged this time. Market participants increasingly saw a higher likelihood that the U.S. government could supply liquidity to support markets. Confidence weakened over whether the Federal Reserve can prevent a downturn without stoking inflation, and that helped push the dollar lower against major currencies.

That environment was seen as favourable for scarce assets such as bitcoin. Recession risk is working in favour of scarce assets for now, and there was seen to be little reason for inflation or labour market 전망 to trigger selling in the near term. Bitcoin has not fully established itself as a clear alternative to erosion in the value of fiat currencies, but it can take a favourable position in terms of supply and demand when the dollar is weak.

Still, the rise may be hard to call stable. A renewed jump in international oil prices has increased a factor that could shake investor sentiment across risk assets. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell below $100 a barrel immediately after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire, but later climbed back to around $97 after a senior Iranian leadership figure claimed the United States and Israel had violated the ceasefire.

Markets are watching in particular the fragility of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran. Yahoo Finance reported that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliamentary speaker and a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general, said Israel's continued offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the entry of military drones into Iranian airspace, and the denial of uranium enrichment were acts that violated the ceasefire talks. If Middle East tensions rise again, oil prices could jump further, and that is cited as a factor that could reverse the recent rebound in risk assets including bitcoin.

Markets say bitcoin reacted more sensitively to shifts in the Middle East situation than to U.S. economic indicators. That is, bitcoin appeared to move less in response to U.S. macro data than to investor expectations surrounding the Iran war.

U.S. stock index futures also reacted strongly immediately after the ceasefire announcement. S&P 500 futures rose to their highest level in 30 days, and the cash index traded about 2 percent below record highs. That showed investors have yet to view problems in private credit markets or a surge in debt costs at artificial intelligence infrastructure companies as full-fledged risk signals. It also leaves room for some funds to shift into bitcoin as the appeal of real returns on bonds declines.

Two points will be watched going forward. One is whether U.S. recession worries can continue to support bitcoin strength through a weaker dollar and liquidity expectations. The other is whether cracks in the ceasefire around Iran and higher oil prices will again curb risk appetite. The market is focusing less on the recovery of $72,000 itself and more on whether that level can hold even as Middle East risks increase.