FILE PHOTO: Representation of bitcoin cryptocurrency | Photo credit: Dado Ruvic
The native cryptocurrency rose as much as 2.21 percent to $68,196 after the news. It was trading around $67,700 at 11 a.m. in Singapore after falling as much as 3.8 percent the day before. Ether, the second-largest token, gained as much as 4.58 percent to trade above $2,000 again.
Crypto markets, which trade 24/7, were in turmoil in the hours after the bombings began. Iran launched counterattacks in multiple locations – including Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – and threatened more against US-affiliated bases in Iraq. Still, digital assets began to recover during the day, with Bitcoin rising sharply after initial reports that Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was dead.
“Traders generally do not expect the conflict with Iran to have major negative economic impacts, and demand for upside Bitcoin calls has clearly increased in recent days,” said Markus Thielen, head of research at 10x Research, adding that traders were positioning for the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting.
Cryptocurrencies had regained about $32 billion in market value as of Sunday morning, after losing about $128 billion the day before, according to data from CoinGecko.
“Bitcoin is the only major liquid asset that trades 24/7, so it absorbed all the selling pressure that would normally spread across stocks, bonds and commodities,” said Hayden Hughes, managing partner at Tokenize Capital. “The real price discovery will happen on Monday when US stock markets and Bitcoin ETFs reopen. With missiles hitting Dubai, Iranian retaliation across the Gulf and the risk of the Strait of Hormuz being closed, this is not a contained event.”
Long-term loss
For Bitcoin, the weekend losses extend a months-long sell-off in the crypto markets, starting with the liquidation of about $19 billion in leveraged positions in October. Bitcoin is down about 50 percent from its all-time high of over $126,000 earlier that month, unable to match the rallies in gold and other safe havens.
“As always, when critical events occur over the weekend, Bitcoin plays the role of pressure valve,” said Justin d’Anethan, head of research at Arctic Digital, noting that the initial impact on the token was not as drastic as some might have expected.
“With much of the influence already gone and sellers exhausted, macro events can only have a limited impact,” he added.
Meanwhile, with traditional platforms closed, digital asset investors turned to tokenized commodities on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid to position themselves for geopolitical fallout. Prices for contracts related to oil, gold and silver jumped.
The reaction was also reflected in a sharp increase in selling pressure on Bitcoin derivatives, with sales volume increasing by about $1.8 billion within an hour on Saturday morning, according to an analysis published by CryptoQuant.
“This type of imbalance reflects clear seller dominance and increasing risk aversion in the short term,” wrote crypto analyst Sylvain Olive. “Flows are driven more by emotion and risk management than by structural dynamics, which requires a cautious approach.”
–With help from Anna Irrera and Shiyin Chen.
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Published on March 1, 2026
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