Bitcoin slips below $66,000, U.S. stock futures bleed as Iran hits Saudi oil refinery
TL;DR
Bitcoin dropped below $66,000 as U.S. stock futures fell amid escalating Middle East tensions. Iran attacked Saudi oil infrastructure and U.S. assets, driving up oil prices and market uncertainty.
Key Takeaways
- •Bitcoin fell below $66,000 alongside declines in S&P 500 futures, reversing earlier gains.
- •Iran escalated attacks on U.S. assets in the Middle East and targeted Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery.
- •Oil prices surged over 7% due to geopolitical tensions, while analysts note wars can be inflationary and potentially boost store-of-value assets like bitcoin.
- •Despite the conflict, bitcoin hasn't shown significant haven demand, with the situation unfolding amid broader market volatility.
What to know:
- Bitcoin has fallen back below $66,000 alongside losses in the S&P 500 futures.
- Iran has reportedly stepped up attacks against U.S. assets in the middle east.
- Some OSINT handles say that Iran has hit oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
- Bitcoin has fallen back below $66,000 alongside losses in the S&P 500 futures.
- Iran has reportedly stepped up attacks against U.S. assets in the middle east.
- Some OSINT handles say that Iran has hit oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
Bitcoin BTC$65,525.47 pulled back from Asian session highs alongside losses in the U.S. stock futures as Iran stepped up attacks in the Middle East, reportedly hitting an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia.
The leading cryptocurrency fell back below $66,000 after hitting a high of nearly $67,000 in early Asian hours. The S&P 500 e-mini futures fell to 6,790, down 1.4% on the day, reversing the early rise to 6,857. Meanwhile, oil prices continued to trade higher by over 7% on both sides of the Atlantic.
Iran reportedly stepped up missile attacks on the U.S. assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE, according to several open source intelligence (OSINT) sources on X. It also attacked Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura refinery, the widely-followed War & Gore OSINT handle said. Aramco is the world's largest oil-producing company.
Meanwhile, according to BBC, Israel carried out another round of airstrikes in Lebanon, targeting Iran's premier regional proxy, Hezbollah.
Iran's attacks in neighboring countries aim to jack up the cost of conflict for the U.S., according to Stephen Coltman, head of macro at 21shares.
“Iran’s strategy to date has been to raise the cost to the United States of sustaining the conflict by launching attacks on neighboring countries and attempting to disrupt the flow of oil and LNG through the Strait of Hormuz," he told CoinDesk in an email.
"Wars are generally inflationary, driving up commodity prices and widening fiscal deficits, and despite an initial knee‑jerk selloff when the conflict began," he added, hinting at potential for appreciation in perceived store of value assets like bitcoin.
The conflict began Saturday after the U.S. and Israel attacked Israel in what has been described as a pre-emptive move to cripple its missile arsenal and nuclear ambitions. So far, bitcoin has not shown signs of haven demand.
7:42 UTC: Adds comments from 21Shares.
- Strategy purchased 3,015 bitcoin last week for approximately $204.1 million.
- The company now holds 720,737 bitcoin acquired for about $54.77 billion.
- The average purchase price across all holdings stands at roughly $75,985 per coin.
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