Bitcoin Price Moves Slowly as Investors Remain Cautious
Bitcoin has shown signs of recovery, but movements remain fragile amid market uncertainty following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran.
Bitcoin (BTC) briefly rose 2.2 per cent to $68,196 after Iran confirmed the death of the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, this rally did not hold. At 06:00 New York time, BTC weakened to around $66,500.
In the derivatives market, approximately $1.9 billion in Bitcoin put options are concentrated at the $60,000 strike price on Deribit. This indicates strong demand for price decline hedging.
Throughout the year, Bitcoin has touched the $60,000 level only once, on 6 February. Meanwhile, the 200-week moving average—regarded by some technical analysts as an important support level—sits around $58,000.
Digital assets responded sharply to the joint US-Israel military campaign announced on Saturday, 28 February 2026. Bitcoin plummeted steeply and briefly touched $63,000.
“More than $128 billion disappeared in minutes, forced liquidations cascaded, and the price bounce that followed was purely mechanical,” said Hayden Hughes, Managing Partner of Tokenize Capital.
He added that genuine price discovery would likely emerge on Monday when US equity markets and Bitcoin ETFs reopened.
“With missiles hitting Dubai, Iranian counter-strikes in the Gulf region, and risks of Hormuz Strait closure, this is not an isolated incident,” Hughes said.
Conflict escalation continued. Following the initial strikes, Iran launched retaliatory attacks on multiple locations, including Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
According to Hughes, Bitcoin ETF fund flows will be a critical indicator when markets reopen. Last week, Bitcoin ETFs recorded inflows of $1 billion during three consecutive sessions. Should this trend reverse, Bitcoin could potentially break below $63,000.
Meanwhile, some observers viewed Sunday’s modest gains as a sign that markets were beginning to look beyond Iran-related turbulence. Traders appear to be positioning themselves for potential longer-term price recovery.