By Callum Keown
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell Thursday as digital assets traded in step with stock markets and at the whim of developments in the Iran war.
Bitcoin was trading at $66,663 early in the day, down around 3% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. Ethereum, the second largest crypto, fell 3.9% and popular altcoin XRP slipped 2.9%.
Digital assets rose earlier in the week on optimism that the war may soon be ending, but fell back -- along with stock futures -- after President Donald Trump's address to the nation late Wednesday. While Trump said the U.S.' strategic operations were nearly complete, he said the military will hit Iran "extremely hard over the next two to three weeks."
So that looks like the war persisting for a while yet. But the bigger picture for crypto investors is that Bitcoin is down 47% from its record high of above $126,000 back in October last year.
An end to the war won't get it anywhere near that level. The world's largest cryptocurrency wasn't quite able to reach the $70,000 mark in recent days despite optimism over a cease-fire and larger moves in other risk assets.
Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, is down 19% this year and off 73% from its 52-week high. It's a similar story for crypto exchange Coinbase Global -- down 24% in 2026 and 61% from its 52-week high.
Trading platform Robinhood Markets has fared even worse this year, falling 38%, and down more than 50% from its 52-week high.
All three stocks were around 2% and 3% lower ahead of the open Thursday.
On the flip side, a prolonged conflict won't do much further harm to cryptos either -- Bitcoin has recovered since initially sliding to $63,000 in response to the first U.S. attacks on Iran at the end of February.
Cryptos are following the day-by-day war developments but digital assets need a much bigger catalyst to ultimately break above $70,000 and start pushing higher. Regulatory progress on the Clarity Act would undoubtedly help but that looks uncertain, too.
It's a long way back for Bitcoin and crypto-exposed stocks.
Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 02, 2026 05:10 ET (09:10 GMT)
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