Bitcoin fell 1.6% to just under $82,800 during Asian morning trading on Thursday, breaching a key technical level as geopolitical tensions and rising energy prices pressured risk assets globally.
The decline took bitcoin below $83,000, a recent low that analysts flagged as a potential inflection point. According to FxPro, a break below this level could accelerate selling toward $80,000. The move comes after approximately $550 million in leveraged cryptocurrency positions were liquidated, predominantly from traders betting on price increases.
Cryptocurrency losses spread across major tokens:
- XRP led declines, falling nearly 4% to around $1.42
- Dogecoin slid 3% to just under 9 cents
- Ether lost 3% to approximately $2,570
- Solana and Hyper fell more than 2%
- Zcash declined less than 1%
- BNB and TRX were among the few gainers, each rising less than 1%
Oil prices rose 2% to above $102 a barrel after reports that the White House requested Pentagon options for strikes against Iran. Additional supply pressures included a storm that shut some U.S. oil production and an attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on two Saudi Arabian airports that killed three people.
The oil surge pushed the 10-year Treasury yield up two basis points to 5.31%, approaching its highest level since 2002. Bitcoin's recent losses have coincided with rising oil prices and yields, suggesting correlation between the movements.
Global equity markets also retreated from recent highs. Wall Street benchmarks slipped Wednesday following record closes, and Asian shares declined 1%. The MSCI All Country World Index fell 0.2%, moving further from a record high it approached earlier in the week.
Analysts noted that a drop in Brent crude back below $100, where it traded on Tuesday, could ease pressure on cryptocurrencies and other risk assets.
