The crypto rally hit a wall on Friday as fresh headlines about potential escalation in the Iran conflict abruptly cooled risk appetite across markets.
Among the developments, US Central Command confirmed that all six crew members aboard a refueling plane that crashed in Iraq on Thursday were dead.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon is deploying a Marine Expeditionary Force (believed to be 2,500 troops) to the Middle East, including forces attached to the USS Tripoli, as Iran steps up attacks around the Strait of Hormuz.
Bitcoin, after rising to near $74,000 earlier in the session, reversed sharply to $71,200 after the news and still held on to a 1.9% gain over the past 24 hours. Ethereum’s Ether (ETH), Solana’s SOL (SOL) and were 3% higher during the same period, although they also retreated from their session highs.
US stocks gave up early gains, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reversing 0.4%-0.5% declines. Gold, which often benefits from geopolitical turmoil, extended its recent retreat by another 1%. Oil, on the other hand, rose more than $5 a barrel. barrel from today’s lows, now higher by nearly 2% for the session at $97.30.
“Optimism over geopolitical events, including Russian sanctions relief, has been a driver of price action,” said Paul Howard, director at trading firm Wincent. “These headlines tend to have a short half-life, so [we] expect this to be short-lived until we see concrete follow-up actions.”
Crypto-related stocks continue to show gains for the day. Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital ( MARA ) led the advance with a 10% jump, while Galaxy Digital ( GLXY ), Ethereum tax firm Bitmine ( BMNR ) and AI data center-focused miner Cipher Mining ( CIFR ) all climbed 5%-7%.
