Cryptocurrency prices are down sharply on June 13 as geopolitical tensions rise following Israel’s attack on nuclear and military sites in Iran.
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Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is down 2% and currently trading at $104,935 in volatile trading. Other cryptocurrencies are down even more, with the price of Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE) each down more than 6% on the day.
Unlike stocks, cryptocurrencies trade around the clock: 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Analysts say capital is flowing out of risk assets such as cryptocurrencies and stocks as investors seek safety in gold and the U.S. dollar.
Middle East Tensions
The flight to safety has been sparked by reports that Israel attacked nuclear and military sites in Iran overnight on June 13. For its part, Iran has responded by launching a drone attack against Israel, raising the prospect of all-out war between the two countries.
The current risk-off move by investors is broad-based and being seen across global markets as stocks sink in Europe, Asia, and North America. Consequently, the U.S. dollar rallied 0.6%, reversing off a three-year low, and gold’s price has surged to near a two-month high.
Crude oil prices spiked as much as 13% before paring some of those gains. Stocks of leading defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin (LMT) and RTX (RTX) are up about 5%. The U.S. dollar’s strength is particularly noteworthy as the greenback is once again outperforming other major currencies such as the Euro, Swiss franc, and Japanese yen.
Is BTC a Buy?
Most Wall Street firms don’t offer ratings or price targets on Bitcoin, so we’ll look instead at its three-month performance. As one can see in the chart below, the price of BTC has risen 28.56% in the last 12 weeks.
