Bitcoin (BTC) fell toward $70,000 late Monday, with other major cryptocurrencies also declining, as rising U.S.-Iran tensions and Strategy's BTC sale pressured risk assets.
The world's largest cryptocurrency dropped 4.2% over the past 24 hours to $70,587, while Ethereum (ETH) dipped 1.1% to $1,986, according to The Block's price page. BNB lost 2.4%, XRP slipped 3.8%, and Solana fell 2.8%.
"Crypto dropped as U.S.-Iran tensions flared, triggering a risk-off wave as investors ditched high-beta assets amid Strait of Hormuz instability fears," said Dominick John, analyst at Zeus Research.
Geopolitical uncertainty intensified on Monday after Iran suspended negotiations with the U.S. in protest of Israel's military offensive in Lebanon. While U.S. President Donald Trump said the talks were still ongoing, CNN reported that Trump had a heated exchange with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's plans.
"Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Trump said Monday in a Truth Social post.
Strategy sells bitcoin
Analysts said market sentiment was further pressured by Strategy's disclosure that it sold 32 BTC for roughly $2.5 million.
On Monday, Strategy said that it sold 32 BTC at an average price of $77,135 per bitcoin between May 26 and May 31, marking the firm's first bitcoin sale since December 2022. The company said proceeds from the sale are expected to fund distributions on preferred stock.
"While the amount of bitcoin sold by Strategy was relatively insignificant, it signals to the market that even one of the world's largest bitcoin treasury companies is coming under pressure from the recent decline in crypto prices," said Jeff Mei, COO of BTSE.
Jeff Ko, chief analyst of CoinEx, similarly said that the size of Strategy's bitcoin sale was relatively trivial in scale, but "the signal is not."
"The psychological break from that narrative hit retail confidence hard and added a negative layer to an already stressed tape," said Ko.
Peter Chung, head of research at Presto Research, told The Block that unless Strategy's next move breathes confidence back into the market, skeptics will keep second-guessing whether the 32 BTC sale was really meant to "inoculate" the market, or is a "prelude to something far more unpleasant."
U.S. equities climbed to fresh highs on Monday, with the S&P 500 gaining nearly 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite advancing 0.4%.
Meanwhile, Asian equities traded mostly lower on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.64%, while South Korea's Kospi dropped 2.14%, with markets still open at the time of writing. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1.01%, and China's CSI 300 edged up 0.75%.
"Traders are watching geopolitical conflict updates closely, while also focusing on whether bitcoin can hold the $70,000 psychological support level," said John of Zeus.