Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and other cryptos bleed as tension escalates in the Middle East

• Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market registered a massive loss after Iran officially launched an attack against Israel
• The biggest loss bearers of this event among the top 20 coins were SHIB, AVAX, and XRP, with over 10% loss in the past hour.

The cryptocurrency market has registered a massive reaction to the escalating tensions in the Middle East. Bitcoin (BTC), the king coin, has lost nearly 8% of its value within a few minutes, while other cryptocurrencies have registered a loss exceeding that. The great crypto plunge follows news of Iran’s official attack on Israel, confirmed by Israeli authorities.

According to CoinMarketCap, at press time, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $62,049 with a market cap of over $1 trillion. The coin has registered a downtrend of 7.51% in the past hour, while its past-day trend shows a similar pattern.

Bitcoin (BTC) price Source: TradingView

Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency in the market, has also lost a huge portion of its value in the past hour. According to CMC, ETH lost nearly 9% of its value, with the coin trading at $2924 at press time. The market cap for ETH stood at over $353 billion, while the trade volume was at over $41 billion.

Notably, the three biggest losers among the top 20 cryptocurrencies in the past hour were Shiba Inu (SHIB) with nearly 13. 01%, XRP with a drop of 13.89%, and Avalanche (AVAX) with 12.46 % drop.

Bitcoin bears the brunt of escalating situations in the Middle East

The price of the crypto market plunged collectively after reports confirmed that Iran has launched a direct attack against Israel. This move comes across as a significant one as it is the first time the Iranian regime has launched an attack directly against Israel from its soil.

Iran has launched dozens of drones at Israel and the target of the attack remains unclear. The move comes as a response against Israel for IDF’s attack on the country’s consular annex in Damascus. Along with the market’s response, the attack has led to the closure of Israeli airspace and planes have been diverted from any Israeli destination.