Iran’s Threat to Israel Affects Markets

Iran potentially launching a missile attack on Israel shook markets on Tuesday, causing top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum to decline alongside shares in Coinbase and BTC miners like Marathon Digital.

On Tuesday, a U.S. official stated that Iran was planning an “imminent” missile attack in response to Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon, according to several news outlets. Shortly after, the Israeli military reported that Iran had launched missiles.

“The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel. We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack. A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” said a senior White House official, according to CNN.

Increased tensions and an escalation of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East might not bode well for the global economy and could adversely affect cryptocurrency prices moving forward.

Among Bitcoin miners, Marathon Digital (MARA) was hit the hardest, with shares dropping by as much as 9% to $14.84 before recovering slightly, according to Yahoo Finance. CleanSpark (CLSK) fell by nearly 6%, while both Core Scientific (CORZ) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) dropped by about 4%. Coinbase, the leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, saw its shares decrease by about 8% on Tuesday.

While both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 initially fell on news of the impending attack, both indexes recovered slightly and held firm even after Iran appeared to fire missiles at Israel.

The prices of Bitcoin and Ether fell by nearly 1.5% and 3%, respectively, in the past hour, according to The Block Price Page. Solana was also down about 4%.