The cryptocurrency rally hit a wall on Friday as new headlines reporting a potential escalation of the Iran conflict abruptly cooled risk appetite in markets.
Among the developments, US Central Command confirmed that all six crew members aboard a refueling plane that crashed in Iraq on Thursday were dead.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon is deploying a Marine expeditionary unit (estimated at 2,500 troops) to the Middle East, including forces attached to the USS Tripoli, as Iran steps up its attacks around the Strait of Hormuz.
Bitcoin, after hitting nearly $74,000 earlier in the session, reversed sharply to $71,200 following the news, still holding on to a 1.9% gain over the past 24 hours. Ethereum Ether (ETH), Solana SOL (SOL) and were 3% higher during the same period, while also retreating from their session highs.
U.S. stocks gave up early gains, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting declines of 0.4% to 0.5%. Gold, which often benefits from geopolitical turbulence, extended its recent decline by another 1%. Oil, on the other hand, climbed more than $5 a barrel from its lowest levels of the day, now up almost 2% for the session at $97.30.
“Optimism about geopolitical events, including Russian sanctions relief, has been a driving force” behind the price action, said Paul Howard, director of trading company Wincent. “These headlines tend to have a short half-life, so [we] I would expect this to be short-lived until we see concrete follow-up measures. »
Cryptocurrency-related stocks mostly continue to post gains for the day. Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital (MARA) led the advance with a 10% jump, while Galaxy Digital (GLXY), Ethereum treasury company Bitmine (BMNR) and AI data center-focused miner Cipher Mining (CIFR) all climbed 5-7%.
