Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptography market tumbled Friday morning after Israel launched a series of air strikes against Iran, marking a major escalation in the current conflict in the Middle East.
Bitcoin is down 2% in the last 24 hours, according to Binance, from $ 107,000 to a hollow of $ 103,000 before bounced slightly. The total market capitalization of the cryptography market is down 3%, with Ethereum and Solana down 7%and Dogecoin down 6%.
The threat of war between Israel and Iran prompted investors to flee cryptocurrencies because they are volatile and considered as risky assets in times of uncertainty. The conflict between the two countries has also raised that Iran could ride by closing the Strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf to the sea of Oman and facilitates the shipment of 20% of the world’s expeditions of oil, according to the US Energy Administration.
Nic Puckrin, founder of Crypto Education Platform Coin Bureau, said that if it occurs, the price of oil will increase and investors will flee risky assets, such as crypto, to protect the value of their assets. “Oil will see a massive peak and risk assets will fall from a cliff,” he said.
Israel’s strike on Iran has targeted the country’s nuclear sites, missile installations and aerial defenses in the country and killed senior Iranian officials and nuclear scientists. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said strikes are an attempt to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capacities and what he called an existential threat to Israel in a video statement on Friday.
“This operation will continue for as many days as necessary to suppress this threat,” he said.
The strikes of Israel occurred after the International Atomic Energy Agency, an organization within the United Nations which focuses on nuclear technology, said on Thursday that Iran did not comply with its nuclear non-proliferation obligations. New York Times.
On Friday, President Donald Trump came out in support of strikes, affirming in an article on Truth Social that the attacks will become “even more brutal” if Iran does not accept an agreement concerning its nuclear weapon program. “Iran must conclude an agreement, before it left,” wrote the president.
The supreme head of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, promised to retaliate against Israel, writing in an article on X that the nation “should anticipate a severe punishment”.