Bitcoin Back Above $62K as Crypto Market Calms After Reports of Limited Damage From Israeli Attack

Bitcoin (BTC) came back over $62,000 as the market recovered after reports of limited damage from an Israeli strike on Iranian military targets.

ABC News first reported that Israel had launched a retaliatory strike against Iran on Friday morning. CNN quoted local media as saying that various military bases and airfields in the country have been hit by missiles. Al Jazeera reported that Iranian authorities are downplaying the nature of the attack, claiming it was a limited drone strike.

Ether (ETH) also recovered slightly, according to CoinDesk Indices data, but was still trading below $3000. PAXG, a tokenized version of gold run by Paxos, is up nearly 3%, according to market data.

March Zheng, a managing partner at Bizantine Capital, said that the next threshold for bitcoin is $55,000, should market turmoil continue.

“If there is a panic sell for bitcoin due to war-related news, it would still be a good buying opportunity,” added Jun-Young Heo, a derivatives trader at Presto, in a Telegram message.

Major stock indices in Asia are also down, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 3.5%, Japan's Nikkei 225 down 6.5%, and Taiwan's TAIEX down 5%. U.S. stock futures similarly fell while crude oil prices rose, MarketWatch reported.

The market now appears to be overlooking the attack and is now focused on the upcoming halving.

“BTC saw high volume and retracement going from 64k to 61k a day before the expected halving event with the 'sell the news' most likely being priced in at this point, showcased by a negative BTC funding rate,” Semir Gabeljic, director of capital formation at Pythagoras Investments, wrote in an email interview with CoinDesk.

"All of the recent retracements, including this one, are in line with historical halving drawdowns; the only difference and consideration is the uncertainty of the macro landscape ahead, which will create additional volatility to come," he added.

The CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a measure of the performance of the most liquid digital assets, is up 0.47%, trading at 2,137.

UPDATE (April 19, 2024, 05:20 UTC): Updates headline and story with new information, adds additional details.