Bitcoin rebounded following a period of heightened geopolitical tension, which initially triggered sharp declines in cryptocurrencies.
The digital asset experienced a temporary drop of over 6% to $59,643 on Friday but later stabilized, reaching $64,640 by 10:55 a.m. in New York. Other tokens like Ether, Solana, and the meme-crowd favorite Dogecoin also regained stability.
Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran, occurring less than a week after Tehran’s rocket and drone attacks, caused ripples across global markets. Reports indicating the safety of nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Iran, helped alleviate some concerns. Traditional safe-haven assets such as bonds, gold, and the dollar saw reduced gains, while stocks recovered from session lows.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is overshadowing the anticipated Bitcoin halving scheduled for later on Friday, which will reduce the token’s new supply. Historically, halvings have driven up the price of Bitcoin. However, with Bitcoin reaching a record high in mid-March before the event, there are doubts about whether the expected impact is already factored into the market.
Stefan von Haenisch, head of trading at OSL SG Pte, suggested that continued violence between Israel and Iran could prompt a general risk-off sentiment across the crypto market. Nonetheless, he noted that it might require a substantial downward movement to reverse the bullish sentiment surrounding the halving.
Strategists from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG have indicated that the quadrennial halving is already largely priced in by investors. Ahead of the event, a series of three-month-old spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US have recorded five consecutive days of net outflows.
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