Bitcoin fell to a three-week low near $66,000 as geopolitical tensions and institutional selling pressured the market. The broader cryptocurrency sector saw significant declines, though a few assets like TAO posted gains. Key developments included reports of potential US-Iran talks influencing volatility and a major mortgage firm’s new crypto-backed loan program.
Bitcoin’s price dropped to just over $66,000, marking a three-week low. This decline coincided with the Royal Government of Bhutan transferring BTC, likely to sell, and reports that the US is preparing to deploy thousands of troops to the Middle East.
The asset had experienced volatility throughout the week, reacting to developments in the regional conflict. It briefly rallied toward $72,000 after Donald Trump claimed the US and Iran had made significant progress in negotiations.
The rally reversed when Iran denied the statement, though later information confirmed some talks had occurred. Compared to the previous Friday, BTC was down approximately 6%, with assets like Ethereum, XRP, and Solana seeing larger declines.
In notable institutional news, Better Home & Finance has partnered with Coinbase on a program allowing home buyers to use Bitcoin and USDC for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae. Separately, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange invested another $600 million in the prediction platform Polymarket.
MicroStrategy announced a more modest purchase this week, spending $76.6 million to acquire 1,031 BTC. The company’s total holdings now exceed 762,000 bitcoin.
The DeFi protocol Balancer stated it would wind down operations and restructure following pressure from a past hack. Analyst Ted Pillows suggested Bitcoin’s price could potentially fall toward $46,000 based on declining “electric cost” estimates.
