bitcoin retreated from Asian session highs along with losses in US stock futures as Iran stepped up attacks in the Middle East.
The leading cryptocurrency fell back below $66,000 after hitting a high of nearly $67,000 in early Asia. S&P 500 e-mini futures fell to 6,790, down 1.4% on the day, reversing the initial rise to 6,857. Meanwhile, oil prices continued to rise more than 7% on both sides of the Atlantic.
Iran reportedly escalated missile attacks against US assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, according to several open source intelligence (OSINT) sources at X. It also attacked Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, said the widely followed OSINT official War & Gore. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest oil producers.
Meanwhile, according to the BBC, Israel carried out another round of airstrikes in Lebanon, targeting Iran’s main regional proxy, Hezbollah.
Iran’s attacks on neighboring countries are aimed at increasing the cost of the conflict for the United States, according to Stephen Coltman, head of macro at 21shares.
“Iran’s strategy to date has been to increase the cost to the United States of sustaining the conflict by launching attacks on neighboring countries and attempting to disrupt the flow of oil and LNG through the Strait of Hormuz,” he told CoinDesk in an email.
“Wars are generally inflationary, raising commodity prices and widening fiscal deficits, and despite an initial sell-off when the conflict began,” he added, hinting at potential for appreciation in perceived store-of-value assets like bitcoin.
The conflict began on Saturday after the United States and Israel attacked Israel in what has been described as a preemptive measure to cripple its missile arsenal and nuclear ambitions. So far, bitcoin has shown no signs of haven demand.
7:42 UTC: Adds comments from 21Shares.
