In brief
- Bitcoin dropped more than 4% to $103,556 following Israeli airstrikes near Tehran and Tabriz.
- The strikes mark a major escalation in Middle East tensions, prompting safe-haven flows into gold.
- U.S. officials said they were monitoring the situation; oil and equity futures also slipped.
Bitcoin fell more than 4% late Friday after Israel launched airstrikes against targets in Iran, escalating tensions in the Middle East and prompting a broad selloff across risk assets.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to $103,556, down from a 24-hour high of $108,500, according to CoinGecko data.
Israel confirmed the strikes targeted Iranian military infrastructure near Tehran and Tabriz, in what it described as a “preemptive response” to growing threats.
Iran has not yet issued a formal response, but state media reported explosions and disruptions to air traffic in affected areas.
The move comes days after a high-level meeting between Israeli defense officials and U.S. counterparts. Washington has not commented on the attack but said it was monitoring the situation closely.
Gold rose 1.7% to $2,414 an ounce, while U.S. futures pointed lower as investors weighed the risk of broader regional conflict.
This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.
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