Bitcoin Price Tumbles as Gold Rises. Why Crypto Is No Haven. — Barrons.com

By Elsa OhlenBitcoin fell early Friday as it reacted to heightened global tensions in the Middle East, dropping along with other so-called risk assets.It remains to be seen what sustained effect the geopolitical tensions will have on cryptos' recent momentum. Amazon.com and Walmart are the latest companies to consider issuing their own stablecoins, according to a Friday report by The Wall Street Journal.It comes less than a month after U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup were also reported to be exploring issuing a stablecoin — a digital asset pegged to a fiat currency, typically the U.S. dollar.The world's largest crypto was down 1.9% over the past 24 hours to $105,061, according to CoinDesk. It dropped to as low as $103,274 overnight, for a loss of about 4% on a 24-hour basis, but has recouped some of those losses since, perhaps indicating crypto investors' interest in buying on dips.Israel launched a wide-ranging strike on Iran overnight, targeting the country's nuclear program and military leadership. Oil prices jumped and markets fell. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were down 1.4% early Friday morning.Ether and XRP were down 7.1% and 3.7%, respectively. Solana plummeted nearly 9%.Gold, the ultimate haven asset, rose 1.1%.Bitcoin has held up relatively well amid the tariff drama over the last couple of months, with some hailing it as "digital gold," or a haven in uncertain times. Friday's price move will likely dent those ideas.The total market value of cryptocurrencies fell to $3.22 trillion on Friday morning from a peak of $3.47 trillion late Wednesday as investors fled risk assets in response to the Israel-Iran conflict, FxPro analyst Alex Kuptsikevich noted.Write to Elsa Ohlen at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.