As political tensions escalate in the Middle East, Bitcoin’s nose drops
The price of Bitcoin (BTC) dropped by 8.4% after Iran attacked Israel.
The cryptocurrency's price dropped from $67,000 to $61,625 in minutes, wiping out more than $130 million in market capitalization following the attack.
The selloff is also affecting other cryptocurrencies. At the time of writing, Ether (ETH) is down 9.81% to $2,927, Solana (SOL) is down 15.96% to $129. According to CoinMarketCap data, the global crypto market capitalization decreased by 8.19% to 2.23 trillion dollars.
According to Bloomberg, Iran sent drones to Israel on Saturday. The move is in retaliation for the attack by Israel a few days ago. Israel attacked a diplomatic compound in Damascus, Syria, killing seven Iranians, including two generals.
In addition to the airstrikes, Iranian authorities reportedly seized a cargo ship owned by an Israeli billionaire.
US President Joe Biden warned on April 12 that Iran would launch attacks and “over time” the US would help defend Israel.
“We are determined to defend Israel. We support Israel, we help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed.
The conflict between Iran and Israel is significantly escalating tensions in the region, which the US has been trying to prevent since October's conflict between Israel and Hamas.
US officials have been trying to avoid escalating tensions with Israel in response to Iran, a government source told CNN. The officials also expressed that they were disappointed by the lack of information that Israel had previously provided regarding the airstrikes in Damascus. Israel only notified US officials when its planes were headed for Syria, the sources said.
“We didn't know that Israel was going to launch this airstrike in advance,” the official said. “Minutes before this happened, and while the Israeli planes were in the air, Israel contacted an American official to tell them that they were in the process of launching an attack on Syria. It did not include any details on who it was targeting or where it would take place, and the strike had already begun before it was communicated through the United States government.
