The price of Bitcoin was falling fast Friday, even after President Donald Trump said he was extending a pause to target key Iranian infrastructure for 10 days. The deadline was set to expire on Friday.

The world's largest cryptocurrency dropped 3.9% to $66,706 over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data — falling below $70,000 Thursday. Ethereum and XRP were also down 3.5% and 2.5%, respectively.

But Trump's de-escalation was quickly followed by an escalation. The Pentagon is weighing up sending 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday.

Cryptocurrencies appeared to be caught up in a wider rotation out of risk assets. Nasdaq futures, for instance, were pointing 0.5% lower early Friday after the tech-heavy index fell 2.4% in the previous session.

"Yesterday's fears about fresh escalation prompted global equities to sharply reverse their gains from recent days," wrote Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid in a note Friday.

Elsewhere, around $14 billion of Bitcoin options are set to expire later in the day. That could lead to heightened volatility as traders readjust their positions, particularly during a time of geopolitical uncertainty.

Write to Alex Kozul-Wright at alexander.kozul-wright@barrons.com

This 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.
source: https://www.tradingview.com/news/DJN_DN20260327001871:0/