The war just got bigger. Bitcoin briefly got smaller.
Bitcoin fell to $65,112 early Monday morning, according to CoinDesk data, its lowest level since the February crash, before recovering to $67,402 as Asian markets opened.
The 24-hour range of $65,112 to $67,389 reflects a market that sold hard on the overnight rally headlines and found buyers near $65,000, a level that hasn’t been tested since the first weekend of the war five weeks ago.
Ethereum recovered 2% to $2,044, Solana gained 0.9% to $83.48 and XRP added 1.4% to $1.35. However, the 24-hour green across the board masks a more complicated weekly picture. BTC is still down 1% on the week, ETH is down 0.9%, XRP is down 1.9%, and SOL is down 3.7%. Tron is the only name in green, with an increase of 2.6% in one day and 4.6% in the week, quietly surpassing the entire complex of large companies.
This time the escalation came from multiple directions simultaneously. Iran-backed Houthi forces entered the conflict, opening a new front beyond the direct theater between the United States, Israel and Iran. Additional U.S. troops arrived in the Middle East, stoking fears of a ground operation.
The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump is considering a military operation to remove enriched uranium, used in the production of nuclear weapons, from Iran, although no decision has been made. And Iran attacked two aluminum production sites in the region, sending the metal up as much as 6% and spreading the war’s economic damage beyond oil and into industrial products.
Brent crude rose 2.5% to around $115 a barrel, up about 90% so far this year. Asian stocks fell sharply, with South Korea’s benchmark index falling 3.2% on a sell-off in technology stocks and Japan’s Nikkei falling 3.4%. S&P 500 futures pared losses and were trading roughly flat, suggesting some stabilization after the initial reaction.
The low of $65,112 is technically important. That level is within range of the low of $64,000 on February 28, the day the war began. Bitcoin has spent five weeks building a pattern of higher lows on each climb, from $64,000 to $66,000 to $68,000 to $69,400 to $70,596.
Monday’s drop below $66,000 is the first time in weeks that the floor has moved down instead of up. Whether it recovers and restores the uptrend or marks the beginning of a break below the range that has held since the war began is the question for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, oil prices at $115 and aluminum rising due to direct attacks on production facilities mean the inflationary impact is widening beyond energy and into industrial supply chains. That makes the Fed’s position even tougher and the rate cut timeline even more distant.
