Bitcoin slid on Friday and was on track for a weekly decline, rounding out a difficult five days for risk assets as the ongoing Iran war hammered sentiment. A massive $14 billion options expiry also kept traders largely wary towards cryptocurrencies.
The geopolitical crisis has led investors to significantly scale back expectations for further interest rate cuts by central banks across the world in order to combat the inflationary shock from surging oil prices. That in turn has led to them dumping bonds, driving up U.S. Treasury yields and putting further pressure on Bitcoin and crypto.
The world’s largest crypto dipped 4.1% to $ 66,094.5 by 17:53 ET (21:53 GMT), and was set for a 4.1% weekly decline.
Get more price insights on Bitcoin and the Iran war by subscribing to InvestingPro
Bitcoin heads for biggest options expiry of the year About $14 billion of Bitcoin options are set to expire later on Friday, with a bulk of open positions set to close on the Deribit crypto exchange. According to CNBC, it will be the biggest options expiry of the year.
Focus is squarely on price swings in Bitcoin in the run-up and in the aftermath of the expiry, especially amid broader market volatility spurred by the Iran conflict.
A Bloomberg report set the maximum “pain level” for Bitcoin near $75,000 – where the largest number of options expire worthless. Major institutional investors and fund managers may nudge the price towards that level to limit payouts to buyers.
But the rolling over of contracts is expected to result in lower near-term hedging activity in crypto markets, leaving Bitcoin more exposed to external shocks, specifically from the war in the Middle East.
While Bitcoin did see some strength since the onset of the conflict nearly a month earlier, it has struggled to break above $75,000. This came after the world’s largest crypto wiped out as much as 50% from a late-2025 record high of nearly $126,000.
Iran says infrastructure attack contradicts key deadline extension Friday’s trading session was marked by investors shunning risk and making for safe haven assets, as the fighting raged on in the Middle East. An extension of a key deadline by President Donald Trump for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face U.S. attacks on energy facilities did little to lift the mood.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said Israel had struck two steel factories, a power plant, and civilian nuclear sites. The minister added that the attacks "contradicted" Trump’s extended timeline.
Hopes of a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran earlier this week sparked by positive comments from Trump and his administration quickly faded as Tehran continued to reject any such claims. The fighting has only intensified, and the U.S. has also reportedly been amassing troops in the Middle East.
"A week that began with cautious optimism around diplomatic progress is closing on a more defensive note. Bitcoin has slipped below $67,000 on Friday as ETF outflows resumed and macro pressure intensified, with total crypto market cap pulling back to $2.3 trillion," Iliya Kalchev, analyst at Nexo Dispatch, said.
Crypto price today: altcoins fall, Ether set for 5% weekly loss Broader crypto prices largely retreated on Friday, tracking Bitcoin.
World no.2 crypto Ether fell 4% to $1,986.28, and was down 4.8% for the week.
XRP lost 2.7% to $1.3299, set for a weekly loss of 5.7%.
Solana and Cardano declined 4.7% and 3.7%, respectively.
Among memecoins, Dogecoin slipped 2.6%, while $TRUMP shed 4%.
Ambar Warrick and Vahid Karaahmetovic contributed to this article
