Bitcoin, Altcoins Plunge as Trump's Threat to Assassinate Iran Leader Escalates Middle East Tensions

Bitcoin was down by nearly 4% over the past 24 hours as President Donald Trump suggested in a social media post that the U.S. might assassinate Iran's supreme leader, escalating already inflamed tensions in the Middle East.

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was recently trading at about $103,630, its lowest level in five days, according to market data provider CoinGecko, though it has ticked back up above $104,000 as of this writing. BTC started edging down last Thursday as Iran and Israel began exchanging missile attacks.

Ethereum was recently changing hands at about $2,470, down nearly 6.5% over the past 24 hours. Smart contract platforms Solana and Cardano were both off about 7%, while the leading meme coin Dogecoin had dropped 6.7%.

Editor's note: This story will be updated with additional details.