Bitcoin falls below $80,000 as US evacuates Middle East personnel

Key points

• Bitcoin fell 2.2% in 24 hours to $79,700, its lowest in more than a month, CoinDesk reports
• Ether, XRP and solana each dropped by roughly 3% to 4%
• National intelligence director Jay Clayton told Marco Rubio that Iranian plotting against US citizens had reached "advanced stages"

Bitcoin slid below $80,000 on Saturday as the US began evacuating personnel from embassies and military bases across the Middle East, CoinDesk reports. The Bitcoin price fall came as intelligence suggested Iran was preparing attacks on Americans, according to the WSJ.

Bitcoin was down 2.2% over the previous 24 hours at $79,700, its weakest level in more than a month. Ether, XRP and solana fell by around 3% to 4%, part of a broad decline across crypto markets.

In a memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, director of national intelligence Jay Clayton said Iran had greatly stepped up efforts to target US personnel. He wrote that Iranian plotting against US citizens had reached "advanced stages" in the Middle East and some other countries. The evacuations go well beyond earlier reports that some diplomatic staff in Saudi Arabia had been told to leave.

Prices slide

President Trump has also threatened to escalate the war against Iran again after the midterms in early November. Speaking at a rally in Florida on Friday, he said the US might carry out another "Epic Fury" operation.

The moves add geopolitical risk to a crypto market already trading at multi-week lows, with the largest tokens all losing ground over the day.

Read the full story on CoinDesk →