Bitcoin neared $63,000 on Saturday after the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran, sending the largest cryptocurrency down about 3% in a matter of hours and extending what had already been a rough weekend for risk assets.
The move takes Bitcoin to its lowest level since the February 5 crash, when the token briefly fell below $60,000.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared an immediate state of emergency in all regions of Israel. A US official confirmed American participation in the strikes, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Liquidation follows a well-established pattern. Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, while the stock and bond markets are closed on weekends.
This makes it one of the only significant liquid assets that traders can sell when geopolitical risk increases outside of traditional market hours.
The result is that Bitcoin often acts as a pressure valve for broader risk-averse sentiment during weekend events, absorbing selling that would otherwise spread to stocks, commodities and currencies if those markets were open.
The attack risks sparking a wider regional conflict in one of the world’s most economically sensitive regions, following a month of US military buildup and the failure of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
