Bitcoin has dropped well beneath the $100,000 floor … a level of mental significance for traders. The drop came during a rising wave of geopolitical instability in the Middle East, now triggered by the latest round of U.S. airstrikes inside Iran itself. The situation was exacerbated by the broader crypto market crash, as Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies fell sharply in value.
Even before this latest drop, Bitcoin just had a year filled with massive returns. The cryptocurrency hit all-time highs over $100,000 in February 2025, shortly after President Trump took office in January.
Trump's unveiling of executive orders designed to support the crypto industry contributed to Bitcoin's surge. This increase came on the heels of Trump winning the 2024 presidential election in November, kicking off an early rally in the overall cryptocurrency market.
It wasn’t all good news from the Trump administration that propped up Bitcoin. When Bitcoin fell to around $75,000 in late April — its trough for all of 2025 so far — it was shortly after Trump’s announcement of new tariffs.
In May, Bitcoin hit its record high. This wave was made possible by Wall Street financiers reentering the asset class through U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Starting in June, the cryptocurrency started to head south.
Friday’s selloff came just hours after the U.S. launched attacks on three major Iran’s nuclear facilities on Saturday. Bitcoin fell 4% in the last 24 hours and was last trading at about $99,300, according to Binance data. The broader crypto market, including Bitcoin, tanked around 7% in the last day.
At the same time, geopolitical tensions are escalating quickly. Just last month, a United Nations–backed nuclear watchdog confirmed that Iran is violating its limits on the military development of a nuclear program. Not long after the watchdog made its allegations public, Israel attacked Iran first, inducing Iranian retaliation.
Bitcoin’s crash caused a cascading collapse of Ether. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, lost nearly 10%.
