Bitcoin Dips Below $60K as Israel Launches Strike on Iran

(BTC) fell 5%, dipping below $60,000 before quickly recovering to about that level, as Israel hit back against Iran for a missile strike last week.

ABC News first reported that Israel had launched a retaliatory strike against Iran Friday morning Hong Kong time (around 1:30 UTC). CNN quoted local media as saying that various military bases and airfields in the country have been hit by missiles.

Ether (ETH) is also down 3.45%, according to CoinDesk Indices data, trading at $2,800 on the news.

PAXG, a tokenized version of gold run by Paxos, is up nearly 3%, according to market data.

March Zheng, a managing partner at Bizantine Capital, said that the next threshold for bitcoin is $55,000, should market turmoil continue.

“If there is a panic sell for bitcoin due to war-related news, it would still be a good buying opportunity,” added Jun-Young Heo, a derivatives trader at Presto, in a Telegram message.

Major stock indices in Asia are also down, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down 3.5%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 6.5%, and Taiwan’s TAIEX down 5%.

U.S. stock futures similarly fell while crude oil prices rose, MarketWatch reported.

Iran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport canceled flights and Iran grounded commercial flights around the capital city of Tehran, AP reported.

UPDATE (April 19, 2024, 03:10 UTC/11:09 a.m. HKST): Adds additional information.