Bitcoin slips below $66,000, U.S. stock futures bleed as Iran conflict intensifies

Bitcoin BTC$66,227.89 pulled back from Asian session highs alongside losses in the U.S. stock futures as Iran stepped up attacks in the Middle East, reportedly hitting an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia.

The leading cryptocurrency fell back below $66,000 after hitting a high of nearly $67,000 in early Asian hours. The S&P 500 e-mini futures fell to 6,790, down 1.4% on the day, reversing the early rise to 6,857. Meanwhile, oil prices continued to trade higher by over 7% on both sides of the Atlantic.

Iran reportedly stepped up missile attacks on the U.S. assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE, according to several open source intelligence (OSINT) sources on X. It also attacked Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura refinery, the widely-followed War & Gore OSINT handle said. Aramco is the world's largest oil-producing company.

Meanwhile, according to BBC, Israel carried out another round of airstrikes in Lebanon, targeting Iran's premier regional proxy, Hezbollah.

Iran's attacks in neighboring countries aim to jack up the cost of conflict for the U.S., according to Stephen Coltman, head of macro at 21shares.

“Iran’s strategy to date has been to raise the cost to the United States of sustaining the conflict by launching attacks on neighboring countries and attempting to disrupt the flow of oil and LNG through the Strait of Hormuz," he told CoinDesk in an email.

"Wars are generally inflationary, driving up commodity prices and widening fiscal deficits, and despite an initial knee‑jerk selloff when the conflict began," he added, hinting at potential for appreciation in perceived store of value assets like bitcoin.

The conflict began Saturday after the U.S. and Israel attacked Israel in what has been described as a pre-emptive move to cripple its missile arsenal and nuclear ambitions. So far, bitcoin has not shown signs of haven demand.

7:42 UTC: Adds comments from 21Shares.