Bitcoin nears 3-week low as oil heads higher on Iran strike woes
Bitcoin dipped below $81,000 and oil prices gained after reports that military confrontation between the US and Iran could return.
Bitcoin slid below $81,000 and oil prices rose after reports of potential military action between the US and Iran resurfaced. Bitcoin faced the risk of losing crucial support at $82,500 following Thursday's Wall Street opening, while oil prices climbed due to fears of US-Iran military conflict. TradingView data revealed BTC/USD reaching $81,000 on Bitstamp, its lowest point since September 21.
The four-hour chart for BTC/USD illustrated this decline. Cointelegraph and TradingView reported that NBC News cited a Pentagon official and an informed source, suggesting the US might prepare for renewed strikes on Iran. This development pushed oil prices upward: West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude reached $93.20 per barrel, the highest since October 2, and Brent crude climbed to $105.88.
President Donald Trump, addressing supporters at a rally in San Antonio, Texas, mentioned that Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was making headway with Iran on a peace deal. However, he noted that he had little interest in a diplomatic outcome, stating that Iran was eager to offer anything to prevent war. The US 30-year bond yield hit a 24-year high of 5.73% on the day but later fell to 5.65% as markets remained uneasy about the potential war's impact on fuel prices and inflation.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller's comments further pressured yields, as he emphasized the necessity of further interest-rate hikes to curb inflation. Waller stated that additional hikes were expected to ensure a timely return of inflation to the Fed's 2% target. However, he hinted at some flexibility in the timing of these hikes.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicated growing market expectations of a 0.25% rate increase at the Federal Open Market Committee's December meeting, with the probability surpassing 70%. Conversely, the consensus for the October meeting leaned towards a rate pause at the current level of 3.75-4%. Bitcoin's price movements kept traders on edge, awaiting a decisive move around the $82,500 support level.
According to Cointelegraph, this support holds significance in Bitcoin's broader recovery from multiyear lows near $57,000, owing to its resemblance to the end of the 2022 bear market. Trader and analyst Rekt Capital noted that Bitcoin is in a transitional phase and at a crucial technical juncture, with ~$82,500 being the decisive price point that will shape Bitcoin's next market structure.
Bitcoin's dip below $82,000 also led to a surge in cross-crypto long liquidations, totaling approximately $430 million at the time of writing, as reported by CoinGlass data.
Written by urgent.news from Cointelegraph's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
