Bitcoin rebounded to $68,200 in early Sunday trading after US-Israeli air strikes on Iran and confirmation of the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei steadied risk sentiment.
The cryptocurrency recovered from a dip to $63,000 on Saturday, adding roughly $5,000 in less than 24 hours and returning to Friday’s levels near $67,350, according to TradingView data from Coinbase.
“After news of Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei’s death, the market pumped because people are taking it as the end of the US-Iran war,”
Said analyst Ash Crypto.
Over the past 24 hours, around 157,000 traders were liquidated across crypto derivatives markets, with total liquidations reaching $657 million and split almost evenly between leveraged long and short positions, according to CoinGlass.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed Khamenei was killed at his office, while US President Donald Trump described him as “one of the most evil people in history” and said:
“This is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all great Americans, and those people from many countries throughout the world, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty thugs.”
Despite the rebound, Bitcoin has just recorded its third-worst February on record with a decline of nearly 15%, marking only the fourth February close in negative territory since 2013 and placing the asset on course for its weakest first quarter performance since 2018.
The price action leaves Bitcoin confined within a three-week range-bound channel even as geopolitical developments drive sharp intraday swings, underscoring the asset’s sensitivity to global macro shocks.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $66,295.12.