Bitcoin traded near $66,150 on Sunday, down roughly 1.7% over 24 hours as global risk assets faced pressure. The decline coincided with a sharp selloff in U.S. stock futures and a surge in oil prices above $100 a barrel, driven by escalating Middle East tensions and attacks on energy infrastructure. Bitcoin showed relative stability despite the volatility, having recovered from a brief dip below $66,000.
Bitcoin remained under pressure on Sunday, extending last week’s losses as global markets braced for volatility triggered by surging oil prices and ongoing Middle East tensions. The cryptocurrency was trading at roughly $66,456, down about 1.7% over the past 24 hours according to CoinGecko data.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 800 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures each dropped around 1.5%. This selloff followed a sharp spike in oil prices tied to the escalating conflict involving Iran.
West Texas Intermediate crude jumped roughly 18% to above $107 a barrel, while Brent crude climbed about 16% to around $108. Growing fears of supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping corridor handling one-fifth of global oil shipments, continued to plague energy markets.
The spike follows a widening set of attacks on energy infrastructure across the region. Israeli warplanes struck fuel storage depots and refinery facilities in Tehran over the weekend, while Iran launched drone strikes targeting oil tankers and energy sites across the Gulf.
For Bitcoin traders, the key question is whether the shock remains contained to commodities or spreads more broadly across risk assets. Historically, cryptocurrencies have tended to move in tandem with equities during periods of macro stress.
The geopolitical backdrop shifted over the weekend after Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was named as the country’s new supreme leader according to Iranian state television. The elder Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike targeting the supreme leader’s offices at the start of the war.
