The price of Bitcoin dropped to just below $63,000 as momentum stalled leading up to its highly anticipated block reward halving. This decline erased gains made over the past month, with Bitcoin currently trading around $62,500, down 5.6% on the day and 11.2% on the week. The wider crypto market also experienced a significant drop, with the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies falling by 6.4% to $2.4 trillion overnight.
As a result of the overnight price crash, more than $327 million in liquidations occurred across the entire crypto market in the past 24 hours, with over $260 million in longs liquidated. Bitcoin alone accounted for over $83 million in longs liquidated during that period. The market volatility, previously attributed to the upcoming halving, now appears to be linked to broader geopolitical concerns such as tensions in the Middle East, which include Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and a direct military attack by Iran on Israel.
Amidst these uncertainties, the spot price of gold surged to highs above $2,400 as investors turned to traditional safe haven assets following Iran’s recent attack on Israel. Conversely, the U.S. dollar index reached a year-to-date high, reflecting a strong dollar and contributing to the slowdown in the crypto market. This index tracks the dollar’s value against six major foreign currencies, including the Euro, Swiss franc, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, British pound, and Swedish krona.
