Bitcoin experienced a significant drop in price on April 13, plunging by over 8.4% due to an attack launched by Iran on Israel. This escalation of geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East caused the cryptocurrency’s price to plummet from approximately $67,000 to $61,625 within minutes, resulting in a loss of more than $130 million in market capitalization.
The impact of this sell-off is not limited to Bitcoin alone. Ether (ETH) also saw a decrease of 9.81% to $2,927, while Solana (SOL) experienced a significant decline of 15.96% to $129. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the global crypto market capitalization dropped by 8.19% to $2.23 trillion.
The attack by Iran on Israel involved the launching of drones, which was in retaliation for a previous attack conducted by Israel. The Israeli airstrike targeted a diplomatic compound in Damascus, Syria, resulting in the deaths of seven Iranians, including two generals.
In response to these events, United States President Joe Biden issued a warning on April 12, stating that Iran would launch attacks in the near future. He emphasized the US’s commitment to 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.”
This conflict between Iran and Israel has significantly heightened tensions in the region, a situation that the US has reportedly been working to prevent since the Israel-Hamas conflict in October. US officials have been urging Israel to avoid escalating tensions in its responses to Iran. In addition, these officials expressed frustration with the lack of prior information provided by Israel regarding its airstrike in Damascus. According to sources, Israel only informed a US official when its 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 US 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 US government.”