At 10 a.m. on Thursday in Singapore, the original cryptocurrency was trading at $72,500, falling as much as 1.4% after rising 8% during US hours on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.
In contrast to other assets, which suffered large selloffs as soon as markets reopened after US and Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend, Bitcoin appeared solid earlier in the week. But by Thursday, markets were starting to rise again. Japan’s Nikkei 225 increased 4.2%, while Korea’s Kospi index increased 11%.
Even gold, which the digital commodity is sometimes compared to but rarely resembles, has underperformed in recent days. Gold has dropped by almost 2% since Friday, the day before the strikes, while Bitcoin has increased by almost 12% during that time.Also Read: BSE shares in focus after SEBI nod for adding index derivatives on two new indices
Before this week, the trend in recent months had been essentially the opposite, with Bitcoin declining while bullion frequently reached record highs.
Since a steep decline in October, shortly after Bitcoin reached a record high above $126,000, cryptocurrencies have failed to find a sustainable rally. Since then, the token’s value has decreased by more than 40%.
Before the recent violence in the Middle East, investors had been escaping to other assets, and traders were hurrying to locate a haven amid uncertainties about the duration of the conflict.
Investors have invested close to $700 million in US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds thus far in March.
(Edited by : Juviraj Anchil)