The biggest of the cryptos took a nosedive as Middle East conflict fears sent investors fleeing risky assets. Bitcoin (BTC) which climbed to $64,000 recently plunged back to $60,000. Headlines reporting Iran prepping ballistic missile attacks on Israel fueled the sell-off. The drop deepened after Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed missile launches from Iran.
The cumulative digital assets market cap dropped by almost 4% in the past 24 hours to stand at $2.17 trillion. US stocks weren’t spared either as S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 1% and 1.7%, respectively. Meanwhile, safe havens like Gold surged to $2,690 and Crude oil spiked 3% to over $70.
Bitcoin plummets as tensions ignite
Bitcoin recorded its biggest drop in almost a month as Iran fired 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. This has escalated hostilities and rattled global markets. BTC is still holding steady at over $61,000 with a 4% decline in the first two days of October. It has broken away from its typical 20% October rally seen over the past decade.
Traders hoped for a potential lift and breach past March’s record high of $73,700, but geopolitical tensions have dampened that hope. However, global markets are on high alert as Israeli PM Netanyahu vows retaliation against Iran’s strikes.
BTC is down by more than 4% in the last 7 days but still carrying a 6% gain registered over the last 30 days. The biggest digital asset is trading at an average price of $61,547 at press time. Its 24 hour trading volume is up by 42% to stand at $50 billion, which suggests the traders are moving funds considering a panic situation.
Altcoins take a hit
Digital assets have shown an increased correlation with stocks, indicating that macroeconomic factors, like the Fed’s monetary policy, are crucial for Bitcoin’s trajectory. The overall crypto market printed wide red indexes as top altcoins like Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) shed 5% each.
The meme crypto category presented a similar view as Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB) and PEPE are all down by a massive 8% in the last 24 hours.
As per the data provided by Coinglass, the crypto saw over 154K traders being liquidated in the past 24 hours. The total liquidations stood at $524.31 million with the largest single liquidation order of BTC/USDT, valued at $12.66 million, happening on Binance.
$451 million worth of liquidated bets (86%) turned out to be long positions. This suggests that traders were hoping for the rally to continue but the recent tension escalation in the Middle East has hampered the momentum.
