Iran’s deputy foreign minister pushed back on Monday, saying Tehran had nothing to do with deliberately bringing down the American helicopter, suggesting what happened could have been an unintended consequence of heightened tensions in the region.
That denial, however, did not stop US President Donald Trump from ordering a military response — and crypto markets felt it almost immediately.
Bitcoin Slides Below $62,000
Bitcoin was trading at $61,780 on Tuesday, June 8, down 3% on the day. The price had been holding above the $62,000 level before the US military action was announced.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down 2.5%, and trading at $61,400, data from Coingecko shows. The top crypto lost 7.6% of its value in the last seven days amid instability in the Middle East, and as the US and Iran grapple for a ceasefire deal.
US Central Command confirmed that American forces carried out what it described as “self-defense” strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET on June 9. The operation was triggered by the downing of a US Army Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, an incident Trump addressed directly in a post on Truth Social.
Trump Declares A Response Was Necessary
Trump said he had been informed by the military that Iranian forces shot down what he called “one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters” while it was on patrol over the Strait of Hormuz. He confirmed both pilots were safe and uninjured. The US must “respond to this attack,” Trump wrote.
The broader crypto market turned bearish in the wake of the announcement. Long liquidations across the market hit nearly $1.40 million in a single hour, according to CoinGlass data, with Bitcoin accounting for more than $136 million in liquidations over the previous 24 hours.
BTCUSD trading at $61,551 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView
Crypto Market Absorbs The Shock
The market had already been under pressure before Tuesday’s escalation. Bitcoin had been hovering around $60,000 earlier in the week following separate Israeli strikes on Iran, which had already rattled investor confidence.
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, said such incidents could happen amid the current climate of elevated tensions, but maintained that the helicopter’s downing was not a deliberate act by Tehran. His comments came as the conflict between the two countries continued to ripple outward, pulling asset prices down with it.
Bitcoin’s drop extends a period of sustained pressure for the world’s largest cryptocurrency, with no clear stabilization in sight as the geopolitical situation remains unresolved.
Featured image from Atlantic Council, chart from TradingView
