Bitcoin’s $100K Battle: Geopolitical Tensions With US-Iran Shake Crypto Markets

Bitcoin's bull run hits a wall as Middle East tensions flare—traders scramble while 'safe haven' narratives get stress-tested.

When rockets fly, markets dive. The king of crypto is learning that lesson the hard way as it claws to hold the psychologically critical $100K level. No one told the Winklevoss twins about this part of the 'digital gold' thesis.

Wall Street's usual playbook—where gold and bonds rally during crises—is getting rewritten in real time. Bitcoin's 15% intraday swings suggest the market still can't decide if it's a risk asset or a bunker. Meanwhile, crypto bros are discovering what forex traders already know: nothing tanks liquidity like geopolitical instability.

The irony? While Bitcoin stumbles, Tether's market cap just hit another ATH. Because when uncertainty strikes, nothing beats good old-fashioned centralized stablecoins—at least until the SEC declares them securities tomorrow.

This Week’s Summary

The crypto market ends the week at a total market capitalization of $3.14 trillion.

• Bitcoin dropped by over 2% to trade at around $102,000.
• Ethereum lost nearly 10% to trade at around $2,200.
• XRP is down 7%, Solana is down 9%, and Dogecoin is down 11%.
• Almost all altcoins are trading in the red, with nearly no exceptions.
• The DeFi sector decreased the total value of protocols (TVL) to around $104 billion.

Crypto Trends 16 – 22 June 2025: Market Analysis and Performance

The crypto market continues to dip following the recent escalations in global conflicts. The recent US air strike on Iran adds to the ongoing battle between the latter and Israel. Meanwhile, the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, and so does the Israel-Palestine conflict. All these hostilities take their toll on the global financial market, and the cryptocurrency sector is not an exception. As a result, most assets lose value steadily with no end in sight. Meanwhile, the market capitalization decreased to around $3.14 trillion.

Bitcoin started the week targeting $110,000. And, for a little while, it seemed that BTC WOULD reach its goal. In fact, the king of cryptocurrency reached as high as $108,700. Unfortunately, that ascent did not last long. Soon, Bitcoin’s value dropped below $105,000. Considering recent global developments, BTC is at risk of falling below the $100,000 level.

Ethereum lost considerable value following weeks of stagnation at around the $2,500 level. The second crypto in command dropped nearly 10% of its trading price. Similar to Bitcoin, ethereum (ETH) is now struggling to remain above a psychologically significant level. In its case, that support level is at $2,000.

Altcoins & DeFi

Most altcoins are trading in the red, with almost no exceptions. For example, XRP is down 7%, Solana is down 9%, Cardano is down 13%, Avalanche is down 12%, Sui is down 14%, Chainlink is down 9%, Hyperliquid is down 15%, and Stellar is down 10%. Only TRON exceeds all expectations with a 1% increase in value.

The memecoins are not faring any better, either. For instance, Dogecoin is down 11%, shiba inu is down 10%, and Pepecoin is down 18%.

The Metaverse sector has also seen notable movements in the past week. For instance, Axie Infinity is down 10%, Stacks is down 10%, and Floki is down 17%. Meanwhile, Decentraland is down 11%, Render is down 17%, and ApeCoin is down 16%. The Sandbox decreased by 11% and MultiversX by 11%. On the other hand, Virtuals is down by 28%.

The DeFi sector lost over $7 billion from the total value locked in protocols (TVL), dropping to around $104.80 billion.

Crypto Market Analysis – What’s in the News?

• TRON’s recent improvement may come from the ongoing rumors that Justin Sun’s blockchain project will go public in the US.

Next Week’s Crypto Market Forecast

The crypto market keeps one eye on its performance and the other on the news. Unfortunately, the most significant events in the world currently do not significantly benefit cryptocurrencies. On the contrary, the sentiment is negative, and FUD is high. This downtrend is expected to continue next week if the peace talks are further delayed.