The value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies declines due to Middle Eastern conflicts.
- On Saturday evening, Bitcoin experienced an 8% decline as U.S. officials announced the impending attack.
- Over the weekend, digital coins were among the few risk assets that were actively traded, and the decline was perceived as an initial response to the escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
- On Sunday morning, Bitcoin's price had recovered to trade above $64,000. Similarly, other cryptocurrencies, including ether, experienced significant selling, with some coins dropping by as much as 10%.
On Saturday, the cryptocurrency market experienced significant selling due to an unprecedented Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel.
On Saturday evening, digital coins were the only risk assets trading, and they fell by 8% as U.S. officials confirmed the attack was taking place. The fall was seen as an initial reaction to the escalation of Middle East tensions.
On Saturday evening, Bitcoin was trading at approximately $70,000 on the Bitstamp exchange. However, it dropped below $62,000 by the end of the day. By Sunday morning, Bitcoin had recovered and was trading above $64,000. Similarly, other coins like ether experienced significant selling, with some coins dropping by as much as 10%.
Recently, the sell-off for bitcoin was the steepest in over a year, with the coin reaching new records. This was due to inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, which continue to drive the cryptocurrency's price action.
In the Middle East, a direct attack on Israel from Iranian territory was carried out for the first time, according to Israel. The country stated that it had identified 300 "threats of various types" and eliminated "99%" of those bound for Israeli soil.
The reported response to the suspected Israeli strike that killed top Iranian officials in Syria was a flood of drones and missiles on Israel.
On Sunday at 10:30 a.m. local time, the Iranian currency reached a new low of 705,000 rials/USD on the unofficial market, according to Bonbast's foreign exchange data.
The TA-35 index of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange dropped 0.38% at 10:23 a.m. London time.
—CNBC's Ruxandra Iordache contributed to this article.
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