Bitcoin experienced a modest 0.9% increase to reach \(62,550.7 within the last 24 hours by 00:42 ET (04:42 GMT). Initially dropping to \)59,693 following reports of an Israeli strike on Friday morning, Bitcoin’s dip below the $60,000 mark, a critical support level, indicated fragile risk sentiment, particularly towards the crypto markets.
Traders reacted by shifting towards traditional safe-havens such as the Japanese yen, the U.S. dollar, and gold in response to the Israeli strikes on Iran, which were reportedly drone attacks. Despite these events, Bitcoin managed to rebound as it found support around the $60,000 level.
Attention now turned to the imminent halving event set to occur upon the generation of block no. 840,000 on the Bitcoin blockchain, scheduled for the upcoming weekend. This halving will halve the mining reward for Bitcoin and is anticipated to slow down the pace of new Bitcoin creation. While the reduction in Bitcoin supply is expected to drive up its value, historical data suggests that immediate price surges post-halving are limited.
Analysts at JPMorgan noted that Bitcoin was still in an overbought state after its impressive performance this year, potentially facing further price corrections post-halving.
The broader cryptocurrency market reflected fragility amidst weak risk appetite, influenced by signals of prolonged higher interest rates from several Federal Reserve officials. Ethereum dipped by 0.6%, XRP by 1.6%, and Solana saw a 4.4% increase in trading.
Although major altcoins initially dropped in response to the Israel-Iran developments, they managed to recover from intraday lows and were still trading above those levels.