A weekend of digital-asset trading saw a significant risk aversion triggered by President Donald Trump's announcement of US bombers attacking Iran's three main nuclear sites. Consequently, Bitcoin $BTC fell below $100,000 for the first time since May, and Ethereum $ETH experienced a sharp decline.
Bitcoin fell by as much as 4.5% to $98,258, and Ethereum declined by up to 10% to approximately $2,116, reaching its lowest intra-day level since May 8. These drops occurred in the aftermath of US bombers attacking Iran's nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, with a "payload of BOMBS" specifically dropped on Fordow.
Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, noted that "markets are nervously eying ongoing geopolitical developments," with the focus shifting to oil when traditional markets reopen. Cosmo Jiang, general partner at Pantera Capital Management, stated that the "overhang of whether the US would strike Iran caused a selloff through the week and into the weekend" and that Bitcoin "tends to lead the market out of a bounce" during geopolitical uncertainty.
Over $1 billion in crypto bets were liquidated in the last 24 hours, with about $915 million in long positions and $109 million in short positions closed, according to Coinglass data.