Bitcoin Price Crashes Toward $103K, Crypto Markets Bleed S200 Billion After Israel Strikes Iran

Cryptocurrency prices have collapsed in recent hours as military action in the Middle East escalated. More than $190 billion has left the cryptocurrency markets in the last 12 hours, bringing the entire capitalisation down by more than 7% to $3.36 trillion.

The cryptocurrency meltdown came after allegations that Israel had undertaken a preemptive missile strike on Iranian nuclear targets.

Israel has declared a state of emergency, stating that it expects counterattacks “in the immediate future”, according to the BBC. Meanwhile, Iranian media reports that residential neighbourhoods in Tehran were targeted, and civilians were among those slain. 

Crypto Assets Crash

Coinglass liquidation data shows that $1 billion in liquidations occurred in the last 12 hours, with about 250,000 traders liquidated in the last 24 hours. Moreover, over 90% of those bets were long, with the majority of them involving Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Bitcoin led the decline, plunging $5,000 from an intraday high of $108,350 to a low of $103,000 during Asian trade Friday morning. The asset found support there and has returned $104,000 as of writing, staying within its six-week range-bound channel. 

Ethereum prices crashed more than 9%, tumbling from $2,760 to bottom out at $2,470 in a matter of hours. The asset had crept back over $2,500, where solid support lies at the time of writing.

Altcoins suffered even more pain with Solana getting smashed 12% in a fall back to $140, Dogecoin dumping 10% in a dip to $0.17, and Cardano crashing 9.5% in a slide to $0.62.

Other altcoins deep in the red include Sui, Chainlink, Avalanche, Shiba Inu, and Hedera. Nevertheless, losses were not as severe for BNB and Tron, which dipped by a couple of percentage points.

Bullish Background Remains

Despite the geopolitical-driven decrease, a bullish backdrop prevails, suggesting a rebound, as Bitcoin and its peers are frequently viewed as safe havens during times of crisis.

“As global tensions escalate, investors frequently turn to fiat-based government debt for’safety’. This, of course, is ultimately a mistake, as inevitable money printing and monetary debasement will ensue. Smart investors will run to assets that cannot be devalued. “The smartest will buy Bitcoin,” predicted former hedge fund manager James Lavish. 

The pro-crypto narrative in the United States continues to strengthen, with the Securities and Exchange Commission dropping a tranche of Gary Gensler-era rules on June 12th. Additionally, the US and China reached a trade agreement this week as tariff tensions eased. However, benchmark Brent crude oil prices increased by more than 8%, while gold prices rose to $3,440 per ounce under the threat of all-out war.

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