bitcoin fell below $69,000 on Thursday as a broader pullback in risk assets accelerated, as early optimism over peace between Iran and the United States and easing tensions in the Middle East faded.
The largest cryptocurrency lost more than 3% from its overnight high above $71,000, while major altcoins ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), Solana’s SOL (SOL), and Cardano’s ADA (ADA) plunged between 4% and 5% during the same period.
Oil prices remain the barometer of the broader market. Crude oil futures rose about 4%, reversing earlier declines and reinforcing concerns about inflation and supply disruptions related to the Iran conflict.
U.S. stocks were at session lows shortly after noon on the East Coast, led by the Nasdaq’s 1.4% drop. Bond yields rose sharply, with the US 10-year Treasury rising 7 basis points to 4.40%, and the 10-year German Bund rising 10.5 basis points to 3.06%.
Notably, all Magnificent Seven stocks are now down double-digit percentages from their all-time highs, with NVIDIA (NVDA) down 18%, Meta (META) down 30%, Amazon (AMZN) down 20%, Alphabet (GOOG) down 19%, Microsoft (MSFT) down 34%, Tesla (TSLA) down 25%, and Apple (APPL) down 14%.
“Looking ahead, the near-term trajectory will likely remain tied to macroeconomic developments,” said Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group.
A clearer path to de-escalation could push risk assets including bitcoin higher, he said, while continued uncertainty may leave them stuck in a volatile range.
Cryptocurrency-related stocks also posted significant losses: Coinbase (COIN), Circle (CRCL), and Strategy (MSTR) fell between 3% and 4%.
The steepest losses came from bitcoin miners, almost all of which are transitioning or have fully transitioned to AI infrastructures and are therefore more tied to the technology in general than to cryptocurrency prices. Hut 8 (HUT) fell 8.6%, while IREN (IREN) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) fell more than 7%. TeraWulf (WULF) and HIVE Digital (HIVE) also posted sharp declines.
WhiteFiber (WYFI) shares fell 14% after fourth-quarter results showed worsening fundamentals, with a net loss widening to $1.5 million and a full-year loss of $24.7 million. WhiteFiber’s parent company, Bit Digital (BTBT), saw its shares drop around 8%.
However, some names bucked the trend. MARA Holdings (MARA) rose 8.7% after reporting the sale of $1.1 billion in bitcoin to pay off debt.
