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Bitcoin falls to $68K amid Iran concerns
Bitcoin fell on Monday, extending weekend losses, as escalating fears over the war between the United States and Israel against Iran triggered a broad outflow from risk assets.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency gave back some of the gains made earlier this month, as speculative assets were hit by growing uncertainty over how the war with Iran will affect global inflation and interest rates.
Bitcoin fell 0.7% to $68,652.0 as of 06:34 GMT.
Iran war escalation in focus after Trump sets 48-hour Hormuz ultimatum
Bitcoin’s decline came amid a broader drop in risk assets: stocks, currencies, and gold also fell on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Iran has 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or the U.S. will strike critical energy infrastructure.
Tehran responded by threatening to fully close the strait and stated it would attack key energy and water infrastructure in Persian Gulf countries in retaliation for U.S. aggression.
The war showed no signs of de-escalation: reports early Monday indicated ongoing hostilities in the Middle East, as the conflict entered its fourth consecutive week.
Bitcoin outperforms gold amid Iran tensions and rate concerns
Bitcoin has performed relatively better compared to gold and other precious metals over the past month, while demand for bullion remained limited despite rising global geopolitical tensions.
Bitcoin has risen about 6% over the past month, while spot gold has fallen about 18% as of Monday.
The yellow metal was hit by a wave of profit-taking after reaching a record high in late January, while broader long position unwinding also added pressure.
Gold failed to attract demand even with the onset of the Iran war, as its safe-haven status was largely overshadowed by concerns over higher global inflation and interest rates.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, benefited from some improvements in U.S. regulation over the past month. Bargain hunters also entered the market last month after Bitcoin lost up to 50% from its October record high.
However, Bitcoin still lagged gold on a year-to-date basis: gold was flat, while Bitcoin was down more than 20%.
Crypto prices today: altcoins weak amid ongoing Iran tensions
The broader cryptocurrency market largely moved in line with Bitcoin on Monday, as uncertainty around Iran failed to spur buying.
The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ether fell 2.2% to $2,061.77, while XRP declined 1.9% to $1.3853.
BNB, Solana, and Cardano fell between 0.5% and 2.5%, while among meme coins Dogecoin dropped 1.3% and $TRUMP lost 2.2%.
See also: "BTC approaches a turning point as realized price converges with market price"
