The cryptocurrency market suffered heavy losses this week as direct military conflict between the United States and Iran triggered a broad flight from risk assets. Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to an intraday low of $60,756 on Tuesday, while XRP slumped toward $1.10, with both digital currencies extending multi-week declines. The sell-off mirrored the rout in traditional safe havens—gold fell 4.1% to below $4,200 and silver plunged 7%—defying the conventional wisdom that geopolitical crises boost haven demand.
The catalyst was a series of U.S. airstrikes on Iranian targets following the downing of an American AH-64 Apache helicopter. President Donald Trump described the response as “very strong and very powerful,” while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi later warned of retaliation. In the early hours of Wednesday, June 10, Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones against bases housing U.S. personnel in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan, escalating tensions near the Strait of Hormuz, which handles 20% of global oil shipments. The threat to energy supply spiked inflation fears, prompting traders to price in longer-lasting Federal Reserve rate hikes, which in turn crushed crypto liquidity.
Institutional algorithms treated Bitcoin like a tech stock, selling it alongside equities. The Nasdaq composite fell over 3% on June 9, Coinbase shares dropped 4.1%, and Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) tumbled 8%. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.89 billion in net outflows in June 2026 alone, stripping away the floor that had supported prices during the 2024-2025 inflow cycle. Even Bitcoin miners are redirecting infrastructure toward AI computing, while speculative capital flows into AI investments and the SpaceX IPO further drained crypto demand.
Peter Schiff, a long-time gold advocate, argued that the precious metals sell-off actually strengthens the bullish case. “Gold just broke below $4,200 and silver is approaching $64. But the bullish case for precious metals actually got much better because of the war, and the longer it lasts the better it gets,” he tweeted, pointing to fiscal spending, inflation, and currency debasement that accompany prolonged conflicts. Still, the immediate reaction was a $1.48 trillion wipeout from precious metals markets in 12 hours.
For Bitcoin, the technical picture is grim. After failing to hold a bounce from $59,000 last week, BTC is now trading around $61,200. A break below $60,500 could revisit the recent low, and a longer-term ascending trend line that has served as a floor since 2017 projects a possible drop as low as $30,000 if historical patterns repeat. XRP, which has been forming higher lows but not higher highs, faces similar vulnerability. Its long-term support line suggests a potential slide to $0.50, though immediate levels to watch are $1.10 and $1.05. A move back above $1.14 would ease bearish pressure.
The unfolding conflict, combined with aggressive U.S. crypto sanctions on Iranian-linked networks, has caused institutional market makers to pull back buy orders out of concern over emergency wallet freezes. With liquidity thin and macro headwinds intensifying, a 50% decline from current levels for both BTC and XRP is no longer an outlandish scenario.
