Bitcoin slides to $62,523 amid Iran uncertainty and rate jitters
Bitcoin dropped 2.4% to $62,522.9 by 06:59 ET (10:59 GMT) on Friday, positioning the world’s largest cryptocurrency for a 1.6% loss over the past week. The decline followed the cancellation of scheduled U.S.–Iran talks in Switzerland, where Iranian officials did not send a delegation and U.S. Vice President JD Vance withdrew, casting doubt on the recently signed 14‑point memorandum of understanding aimed at ending hostilities and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
At the same time, hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve heightened concerns about rising interest rates, dampening appetite for risk‑driven assets such as cryptocurrencies. Institutional investors continued to pull money from spot Bitcoin exchange‑traded funds for a sixth consecutive week, although the outflow pace appeared to be slowing. The shift in capital allocation favored high‑flying artificial‑intelligence stocks that offer clearer fundamentals.
Altcoin prices also retreated, contributing to a muted weekly performance across the broader crypto market. Ether fell 2.9% to $1,691.30, XRP declined 3.5%, and other tokens—including Solana, Cardano, BNB, Dogecoin and the meme‑coin “OFFICIAL TRUMP”—lost between 2% and 4%.
The article notes that despite the diplomatic setback, the United States was seen lifting its naval blockade against Iran and oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz showed signs of recovery, suggesting some underlying resilience in related commodity markets.