Cryptocurrencies plunge as Iran begins attack against Israel

Cryptocurrencies plunged on Saturday after reports that Iran had begun an attack on Israel, demonstrating how crypto assets can react while more traditional investment instruments are not available for trading.

According to the website CoinMarketCap, the global crypto market tumbled 9% shortly after Israel said Iran had launched drones against it, which Iran’s state media subsequently confirmed. Iran said the strike was in response to an attack earlier this month that killed military generals in Syria. Iran blamed that attack on Israel.

Context: U.S. reportedly anticipates Iranian retaliation for Syria strike within days

It’s not clear what the targets are for the slow-moving drones, but markets didn’t hesitate to react, with bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.23% down 7%, Ethereum ETHUSD, +0.71% losing 9% and Solana SOLUSD, -2.60% skidding 16%.

More speculative cryptocurrecies like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu saw losses of 20%.