Bitcoin experienced a significant drop of more than 8.4% on April 13 due to an attack launched by Iran on Israel, which escalated geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The price of Bitcoin, which was around $67,000, plummeted to $61,625 within minutes of the news, resulting in a loss of over $130 million in market capitalization.
This downward trend also affected other cryptocurrencies. Ether (ETH) saw a decrease of 9.81% to $2,927, while Solana (SOL) sank 15.96% to $129. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the overall market capitalization of the global crypto market declined by 8.19% to $2.23 trillion.
Bloomberg reported that Iran launched drones towards Israel on April 13 as a retaliation for a previous attack by Israel on a diplomatic compound in Damascus, Syria. This attack resulted in the death of seven Iranians, including two generals. Additionally, Iranian authorities reportedly seized a cargo ship owned by an Israeli billionaire.
On April 12, United States President Joe Biden issued a warning, stating that Iran would launch attacks in the near future. He emphasized the U.S.’s commitment to supporting and defending Israel, stating, “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel, we will help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed.”
The conflict between Iran and Israel has significantly heightened tensions in the region, a situation that the U.S. has been trying to prevent since the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023. These attacks have led to an ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
According to a government source, U.S. officials have been urging Israel not to further escalate tensions in their response to Iran. The officials have also expressed frustration with the lack of prior information provided by Israel regarding their airstrike in Damascus. It was reported that Israel only informed a U.S. official when their planes were already en route to Syria.
“We were not aware that Israel was going to carry out this airstrike in advance,” the official stated. “Minutes before it happened and when Israeli planes were already in the air, Israel reached out to a U.S. official to say they were in the process of conducting a strike in Syria. It did not include any details on who they were targeting or where it would be conducted, and the strike was already underway before word could be passed through the U.S. government.”