Market News

BY  Sidhartha Shukla and Emily Nicolle

(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell sharply after the US and Israel began striking targets across Iran on Saturday, causing ripples across high-risk assets.

Bitcoin dropped as much as 3.8% to $63,038, before stabilizing to trade around the $64,000 mark in morning trading in New York. Ether, the second-largest token, slid as much as 4.5% to $1,836. Roughly $128 billion in market value was erased across digital assets in the immediate aftermath of the news, according to data from CoinGecko.

Several large explosions were reported in Tehran, shortly after which US President Donald Trump urged Iranians to take over the government once the military campaign comes to an end. Just hours after the campaign began, Iran launched missiles at multiple locations — including Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — and threatened more against US linked bases in Iraq.

“While risks of conflict erupting again were bubbling given the US troop build-up in the Gulf, hopes had been pinned on fresh negotiations, and the decisive military action came sooner than expected,” Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said in a note Saturday. “We are set to see another pile-on into assets perceived as safe havens such as gold, as investors look to shelter their money, given the course of the conflict is so unpredictable.”

For Bitcoin, the weekend losses extend a months-long selloff in crypto markets, beginning with the liquidation of some $19 billion in leveraged positions in October. Bitcoin has fallen around 50% from its all-time peak of over $126,000 earlier that month, unable to latch on to rallies in gold and other safe-haven assets.

“As always, when critical events take place during the weekend, Bitcoin plays the role of pressure valve,” said Justin d’Anethan, head of research at Arctic Digital, noting that the initial impact on the token wasn’t as drastic as some might have expected.

“With a lot of the leverage already cleared out and exhausted sellers, there’s only so much impact macro events can have,” he added. “Not to say Bitcoin cannot go lower, just that a lot of the volatility has already been flushed out.”

Meanwhile, with traditional venues closed, digital-asset investors turned to tokenized commodities on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid to position for geopolitical fallout. Prices for contracts tied to oil, gold and silver jumped on the platform.