Bitcoin Crashes Below $104K—$500M Liquidated Amid Geopolitical Firestorm

Markets bleed as BTC nosedives—traders caught in the crossfire.

Leverage wrecks havoc: Half a billion vanishes in minutes.

War drums beat, crypto trembles—another day in ''decentralized'' finance.

Bonus jab: Wall Street''s ''hedge'' against volatility? Praying.

Middle East tensions escalate

Price action was directly linked to the outbreak of fresh hostilities in the Middle East. Israel said its forcescommander in Tehran early on June 17.

This latest strike in a five-day exchange that has involved missiles, drones, and warnings to civilians.

In Washington, President Donald TRUMP posted that the US “knows where Iran’s Supreme Leader is hiding” and demanded Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” escalating rhetoric around possible US involvement.

Traders watch as the prospect of wider regional conflict instigates risk aversion across global assets, including crypto.

Viable hedge

AnalystsBitcoin’s relative strength, calling it a viable alternative to increase a hedge in portfolios.

Ecoinometrics found that adding a 10% Bitcoin sleeve to a classic 60/40 allocation lifted the past-year risk-adjusted return to 0.80 with a 14% gain, versus 0.62 and 12% for the same swap into gold. 

Fidelity strategists Chris Kuiper and Jurrien Timmer say that persistent inflation and policy uncertainty have weakened the hedging role of bonds, making scarce digital assets such as bitcoin an increasingly favored ballast in diversified portfolios.