Israel, Iran Tensions Rattle Markets, Bitcoin and crypto drop
The price of Bitcoin wavered Tuesday as dozens of missiles descended on Israel, according to news reports.
The U.S. had warned earlier that a ballistic missile strike from Iran was being prepared against the foreign ally. Later, the Iranian Mission to the United Nations said on Twitter (aka X) that Tehran’s response “has been duly carried out.”
Bitcoin’s price fell 3.2% to $61,300 amid the volley, hitting its lowest price in two weeks, though it has ticked back up to $62,200 as of this writing. The dip reflected a lackluster start to so-called Uptober, a period of historically seasonal strength for “risk assets” like stocks and crypto.
While Bitcoin has gained traction among investors as a “store of value asset” against inflation, the coin hasn’t consistently performed well as a “flight to quality asset” during times of geopolitical, Grayscale Investment’s Managing Director of Research Zach Pandl told Decrypt.
“Investors who are concerned about high geopolitical risks are, for now, still reaching for the traditional instruments,” he said, pointing to physical gold and U.S. Treasury bonds.
Despite Tuesday’s dip, Pandl added that Bitcoin’s correlation with risk assets could shift alongside Bitcoin’s adoption by countries in the coming years.
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