Bitcoin is rising again: 2 reasons why the cryptocurrency just passed a key milestone for the first time in months

This week, Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading above $80,000 per token, and on Tuesday morning, it hit $81,000. That news will be music to the ears of cryptocurrency investors as it marks the first time that Bitcoin has traded above that level since January. But what exactly is driving Bitcoin’s price to rise above the psychologically important barrier? Here are two of the biggest factors impacting BTC’s rise this week. Movement in the Strait of Hormuz Geopolitical tensions have made many assets highly volatile this year, particularly gold, stocks, and cryptocurrencies. The latest geopolitical impact on these assets came from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran in February, which is currently under a fragile ceasefire. That war has led to Iran declaring the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s busiest and most critical supply lanes—closed, which has caused the price of oil to spike. Over the weekend, President Trump rejected an Iranian peace proposal, which would have seen the strait reopen. But on Monday, Trump announced “Project Freedom,” a plan that will see the U.S. military escort oil tankers and other ships through the strait, thereby getting fuel supply chains moving again. The news sent the price of a barrel of oil down to around $104 as of this writing, from highs of around $127 late last week. As noted by 247WallSt.com, the relief over Trump’s plans to resume oil flows through the strait also buoyed investor sentiment in the crypto space. Since the military’s project was announced, Bitcoin has risen by around 3.5%, and, crucially, the news helped send the price of a single token back over the psychologically important $80,000 barrier—a level it has not seen since the end of January. But news about the Strait of Hormuz likely isn’t the only thing boosting crypto this week. Progress on the Clarity Act Over the weekend, news also broke that there was progress on the stalled crypto legislation known as the Clarity Act. As Fast Company previously reported, the Clarity Act