Digital Gold vs. Geopolitical Risk: BTC Recovers $68,000 Amid Escalating U.S.-Iran Conflict

TradingKey - Escalating U.S.-Iran tensions spark a surge in safe-haven demand; Bitcoin briefly rebounds above $68,000 as gold prices break through $5,300.

During the early Asian trading session on March 2, cryptocurrencies turned from gains to losses, pulling back by over 1%, with total market capitalization falling to $2.28 trillion. Among them, Bitcoin (BTC) fell 0.76%, Ethereum ( ETH) fell 0.27%, and XRP (XRP) dropped nearly 1%.

Price performance of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, Source: CoinMarketCap

Yesterday, U.S. and Israeli forces launched airstrikes on Iran, resulting in the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei. As the U.S.-Iran war officially commenced, the crypto market surged collectively, with Bitcoin briefly breaking above $68,000 and reaching a high of $68,149.

Currently, Iran is gradually initiating retaliatory actions against the U.S. and Israel, but Bitcoin prices have failed to climb further and instead experienced a pullback, primarily because Bitcoin's safe-haven status remains significantly inferior to that of gold (XAUUSD).

Traditional financial markets were closed over the weekend, allowing the crypto market to attract capital inflows and drive a brief rebound in Bitcoin. This Monday, as traditional financial markets opened for trading, safe-haven demand pushed capital toward the gold market. As of press time, spot gold prices jumped over 1.5%, decisively breaking through $5,300 per ounce, marking a new high since January 30 this year.