The price of bitcoin plummeted on Saturday following reports that Iran launched missile and drone attacks against Israel. Alongside the market leader, many other prominent cryptocurrencies also saw a major sell-off as news of a brewing international conflict in the Middle East circulated online.
bitcoin suffers a significant drop for the second consecutive day
According to multiple reports on April 13, Iran began a drone strike against Israel in retaliation for an attack on an Iranian diplomatic building in Syria on April 1 that claimed the lives of nine Iranian officials, including a senior general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran.
This incident marked Iran's first direct attack against the Jewish state after years of growing political tensions between the two countries. With Iranian forces confirming new missile attacks against “specific targets” in Israel, both nations are likely headed toward a full-scale war.
Following reports of drone attacks in the Middle East, the price of bitcoin fell by 8.07% from $67,132.1 to $61,710.58, reflecting high selling pressure. Interestingly, this price action marked the second consecutive day that the first cryptocurrency suffered a significant loss following a 5% drop on Friday amid minor turbulence in the US stock markets.
Overall, bitcoin has shown disappointing performance in recent weeks, recording a 12.51% loss in the last month according to bitcoin/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>data from CoinMarketCap. The inaugural cryptocurrency has struggled to replicate its bullish form seen in early 2024, when it hit a new all-time high price of $73,750.07. However, with the halving event quickly approaching, btc investors are likely optimistic about a potentially massive price gain in the coming months based on historical price data.
bitcoin is currently trading at $63,943, showing a 3.61% gain from its previous drop on Saturday. At the same time, the token's daily trading volume increased by 22.46% and is valued at $57.37 billion.
x/86oNtbAu/" alt="bitcoin" width="1479" height="893" loading="lazy"/>bitcoin trading at $63,971 on the daily chart | Source: BTCUSDT chart on Tradingview.com
Altcoins are not spared from the market decline
Along with bitcoin, the price of altcoins also decreased significantly due to escalating geopolitical tension in the Middle East. ethereum, the most popular altcoin and the second largest cryptocurrency, suffered a 10.89% loss, falling to $2,880.16.
Meanwhile, other prominent tokens such as Solana (SOL), XRP, and Avalanche (AVAX) also recorded price drops of 12.68%, 18.11%, and 16.00%, respectively. Overall, the total crypto market capitalization decreased by 7.78%, falling to around $2.2 trillion.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from Tradingview
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