Quick overview

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Renewed tensions in the Middle East and growing fears of persistent inflation are once again weighing heavily on the cryptocurrency market, triggering a broad selloff across digital assets.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell 2.6% on Thursday, putting the $73,000 level at risk and reaching its lowest point since early April. Ethereum (ETH) dropped as much as 3.2%, slipping below the key $2,000 support level.

Losses were widespread across the altcoin market. XRP, Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), Cardano (ADA), and Monero (XMR) posted declines similar to Bitcoin’s, while Tron recorded the sharpest drop of the session, plunging 6.4%. Figure Heloc stood out as one of the few gainers, rising 0.9%.

From a technical perspective, Bitcoin continues to trade below its 50-week exponential moving average, currently near $84,000, signaling that the market remains in a defensive medium-term trend. Following the break of its previous trendline, the area around $70,671 has emerged as the main short-term support zone.

ETF Outflows Continue to Pressure the Market

The latest decline comes amid continued institutional outflows from crypto investment products. The eleven U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net withdrawals totaling approximately $733 million on Wednesday alone.

Among them, BlackRock’s IBIT fund led the outflows, with net redemptions of roughly $527 million. According to SoSoValue data, it marked the fund’s second-largest daily outflow since launching in January 2024.

Over the last two weeks, cumulative withdrawals across spot Bitcoin ETFs have surpassed $2 billion, highlighting a more cautious institutional stance toward the sector.

Middle East Tensions and the Fed Weigh on Sentiment

The latest selloff appears to have been triggered primarily by escalating tensions in the Middle East. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Thursday that it had targeted a U.S. air base shortly after American forces launched strikes against an Iranian military facility considered a threat to U.S. troops and commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, Federal Reserve officials Neel Kashkari and Lisa Cook warned about persistent inflation risks and the implications for monetary policy.

Market expectations have also shifted notably. According to CME’s FedWatch tool, investors increasingly believe the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged through the rest of the year, while speculation about possible additional hikes has started to rise.

Fresh U.S. economic data added to those concerns. First-quarter GDP growth came in at 1.6%, below expectations, while the core PCE inflation index—the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge—accelerated to 3.8% from 3.5%, reaching its highest level since May 2023.