Fundstrat's managing partner and head of research, Tom Lee, has declared that Bitcoin successfully passed a critical stress test by holding its value during a weekend of significant geopolitical tension and oil price volatility. Speaking to CNBC's Scott Wapner at the Future Proof conference in Miami, Lee pointed to Bitcoin's rally and resilience as oil prices surged following Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Lee framed the weekend's price action as a pivotal turning point, arguing it demonstrated Bitcoin's re-emergence as a credible store of value. He noted that Bitcoin held above $70,000 even as crude oil moved aggressively higher, a scenario that in previous market cycles would have triggered a risk-off sell-off in the asset. "This weekend kind of showed Bitcoin is coming back in vogue as a store of value," Lee stated.
The analyst directly addressed Bitcoin's perceived failure as a safe haven during the historic market deleveraging event of October 2025, when gold rose while Bitcoin fell. Lee acknowledged the weakness but characterized it as a product of an exceptional event. "Bitcoin did basically break on October 10 because that was the biggest deleveraging event in the history of crypto," he explained, adding that the massive forced liquidations were not a reflection of Bitcoin's fundamentals. He contends that chapter is now closed, with the speculation and excess leverage from the 2024-2025 bull market having been cleared out.
On-chain data from Binance Research appears to support the accumulation narrative. The analysis showed approximately 29,000 BTC were withdrawn from exchanges while the price traded between $65,000 and $75,000. This pattern contrasts sharply with the prior sell-off from $92,000 to $62,000, during which exchange balances were rising—a classic indicator of selling pressure.
As of the report, Bitcoin was trading around $70,000, down just 0.2% in 24 hours after briefly touching $71,600. The asset is up about 3% over the past week and nearly 7% across two weeks, though it remains down approximately 12% year-on-year and more than 44% below its all-time high from October 2025.
