Bitcoin falls to $63k, crypto market loses $128 billion amid US attack on Iran

On the news about the escalation of conflict in the Middle East bitcoin and other digital currencies lost in the moment about $128 billion of market value, according to data from the portal Coingecko, attention was drawn to them by Bloomberg. At the time of publication on February 28, the global market capitalization of cryptocurrencies is $2.28 trillion, down 5.1% compared to the same data 24 hours ago, according to Soingecko.

Bitcoin, according to estimates on Coinmarketcap, on reports of the beginning of the U.S. "large-scale operation" against Iran in trading on February 28 lost more than 6%, falling to $63.2 thousand. The second most capitalized cryptocurrency on the market - Etherium meanwhile in the minus by more than 8%, trading at $1.8 thousand.

For bitcoin, Bloomberg points out, these losses are a continuation of a months-long sell-off in the cryptocurrency markets that began shortly after bitcoin peaked at more than $126,000 last October. Since then, bitcoin has already lost about 50% of its value.

Reduced risk appetite is likely to be the first and obvious reaction of markets to the conflict in the Middle East, Michael Brown of Pepperstone Group noted in a commentary for Bloomberg. The analyst expects that once trading begins, investors will reduce their stake in riskier assets, including like stocks, and move them into Treasuries, gold, yen and Swiss francs.

US President Donald Trump announced the beginning of a "large-scale operation" against Iran on February 28. In the morning of the same day, the United States and Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Iran. Iran, in turn, launched a missile strike on the location of a US military base in Bahrain. The attacks were preceded by the US military build-up in the Middle East and weeks of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, which did not lead to a new agreement.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor