- Bitcoin’s price climbed amid reports of an attack around the Iranian city Isfahan.
- Escalation between Israel and Iran comes as traders are optimistic ahead of the halving.
Bitcoin is hovering at almost $65,000 with a 5% increase since yesterday as markets react to retaliation in the Middle East.
Reports of an attack on an Iranian military base near the city of Isfahan came out in the early hours of Friday morning. The attack is suspected to come from Israel.
Despite growing fears of escalation between Israel and Iran, Bitcoin’s price has reacted more like havens like gold and oil, instead of its riskier asset cousins such as stocks.
Bitcoin rose from around $60,000 to almost $65,000. Meanwhile, gold spiked above $2,400 and then retreated.
“Geopolitics is unbelievably hard to price,” Neil Wilson, chief analyst at Markets.com, said in a note to clients.
Crypto watchers are also anticipating Bitcoin’s halving — a pre-planned event that will cut Bitcoin miner rewards in half for minting new coins.
The competing narratives — the uncertainty from the Middle East conflict and the optimism surrounding the halving’s impact on Bitcoin’s value — have wobbled markets.
And not just in cryptocurrencies. Wilson noted that while oil prices spiked after the retaliatory attack from Israel, the US WTI benchmark is near the price it was before the April 1 attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
Bitcoin’s plunged over the weekend when Iran sent a barrage of missiles and drones towards Israel.
Bitcoin tanked 13% from its highest point on Friday before rebounding to about $60,000.
Escalation in the Middle East could see the price of Bitcoin nosedive to around $58,000, experts warned.
“The wildcard is Israel’s response to the Iranian attack,” Jonathan de Wet, chief investment officer at digital asset trading firm Zerocap previously told DL News. “Markets want to see stability here.”
Crypto market movers
- Bitcoin is up 2% today to about $64,700. It’s down almost 9% since Thursday.
- Ethereum is up 1.3% to around $3,100. It has fallen 12% this week.
What we’re reading
- Traders bet on Bitcoin rebound after $1.5bn washout — DL News
- Tether Expands Beyond Stablecoins, Launches Four New Business Divisions — Milk Road
- DeFi Has ‘Higher Level of Accountability’ Following Eisenberg Conviction, Experts Say — Unchained
- Eisenberg convicted of fraud in $110m Mango Markets exploit in a blow to DeFi — DL News
- Binance Set To Re-Enter India After Paying $2 Million Penalty: Report — Milk Road
Inbar Preiss is a regulation correspondent. Contact her at inbar@dlnews.com.