Bitcoin erased last week’s rally, sliding to about $69,000 as President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants. Bitcoin has given back last week’s gains in a single weekend. The largest cryptocurrency slid to $69,192 on Sunday morning, down 2.2% over the past 24 hours and 3.1% on the week, after U.S. president Donald Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran late Saturday demanding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on the country’s power plants. The 48-hour window means the deadline arrives Monday evening.
If Iran doesn’t comply, and there’s no indication it will, the market faces the prospect of strikes on power infrastructure, which would be the first direct targeting of civilian energy systems in the conflict. Last week’s rally to $75,912 now looks like it was built on ceasefire speculation that evaporated over the weekend. The threat marks a dramatic escalation from Friday, when Trump said he was thinking about “winding down” the military operation. Going from winding down to threatening civilian infrastructure in 24 hours whipsawed a market that had spent the previous week building confidence around de-escalation.
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