The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant downturn in the wake of Iran's drone attack on Israel, leading to a widespread sell-off of digital assets.
BitcoinThe largest cryptocurrency fell 7.7% on Saturday, its steepest decline since March 2023.
The token managed to recover some losses and was trading around $64,000 on Sunday, while other major coins such as Ether, Solana, and Dogecoin also suffered losses in the 24-hour period.
Iran attacks Israel in retaliation for Syria attack
Iran's drone and missile attacks are seen as retaliation for attacks in Syria that left senior Iranian military officials dead.
The escalation of conflict in the region has created an atmosphere of uncertainty that affected traditional markets on Friday and spilled over into crypto markets over the weekend.
Cryptocurrencies are continuously traded, providing investors with insight into market sentiment ahead of the resumption of traditional markets on Monday.
However, please be aware that the situation may change rapidly during this period.
Tensions between Iran and Israel have had a negative impact on stocks, prompting investors to seek safety in assets such as bonds and the US dollar.
About $1.5 billion worth of bullish crypto bets using derivatives were liquidated between Friday and Saturday, according to data from Coinglass, making it one of the largest two-day liquidations in at least six months. .
High levels of leverage in the market contributed to the significant decline in the prices of digital assets during this period.
Bitcoin's current price is about $10,000 lower than its mid-March record of $73,798.
The launch of dedicated U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) earlier this year drove the tokens to all-time highs, but flows into these products have slowed in recent days.
How will Bitcoin halving affect the market?
Cryptocurrency speculators are eagerly anticipating the Bitcoin halving, which is expected to occur around April 20th.
This event cut the new supply of Bitcoin in half, which has historically been a positive factor in price increases.
However, given that Bitcoin recently reached historic highs, there are questions about whether the halving will have a similar impact this time around.
For example, billionaire Arthur Hayes has expressed cautious views regarding the upcoming Bitcoin halving and its impact on asset prices.
While many experts predict a significant rally for Bitcoin after the halving event, Hayes believes that the price movement before and after the event could actually be negative.
Similarly, coinbase have warned that time Bitcoin's upward momentum could pose challenges this year as traders wait for a spike in prices ahead of Bitcoin's halving.
However, some industry executives, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, remain optimistic.
Garlinghouse predicts that the total market value of cryptocurrencies will double this year, mainly due to spot ETFs and the halving of Bitcoin.
He believes the introduction of real institutional money through ETFs is a key factor contributing to this positive outlook.
“I'm very optimistic. I think macro trends, big picture things like ETFs are moving real institutional money for the first time,” he said. He told CNBC on April 7th..
