Bitcoin Retreats to $71,400 as IGV Software ETF Rallies 9% Over Five Sessions

Bitcoin fell nearly 2% over the past 24 hours to around $71,400 after briefly testing $74,000, retreating from its early-week advance during U.S. trading on Thursday. The pullback coincided with broader equity weakness amid the ongoing Iran conflict, which pushed oil up 5.3% to $78.70 per barrel, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.4%, the S&P 500 declined 0.7% and the Nasdaq slipped 0.4%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) rose 2% on the day and roughly 9% over the past five sessions, decoupling from bitcoin after months of close correlation, Maelstrom CIO Arthur Hayes noted. Traders trimmed risk ahead of Friday's U.S. February jobs report, while CME interest rate markets now assign an 88% probability the Federal Reserve keeps rates unchanged at this month's and April's meetings, and Wintermute and Bitfinex analysts point to roughly $2 billion of recent spot bitcoin ETF inflows, firmer spot market strength and stabilizing volumes as supporting factors.