Bitcoin slips below $63K as U.S. strike on Iran rattles markets; Citadel backs Crypto.com at $20B valuation

The day's main driver was geopolitical: a U.S. military strike on Iran triggered a broad retreat from risk assets, and crypto was no exception. Bitcoin fell 1.83% to $62,759 — its lowest level in several sessions — while Ethereum dropped 2.93% to $1,826. Comments from President Trump on China added a second layer of uncertainty, keeping traders cautious through the session. The Fear & Greed index sits at 27, firmly in 'Fear' territory, reflecting how quickly sentiment has cooled. Hyperliquid took the sharpest hit among tracked assets, falling 9.79%. As a leveraged trading platform, it tends to see amplified moves when broader market anxiety rises — traders unwinding positions or pulling liquidity can create outsized swings in its token price. Zcash also fell 5.2%, though no specific catalyst was identified beyond the general risk-off tone. The one clear counterweight was Cronos. Citadel Securities — one of the largest market-making firms on Wall Street — announced a $400 million stake in Crypto.com, valuing the exchange at $20 billion. That kind of institutional commitment tends to lift the exchange's native token directly, and CRO gained 4.47% while nearly everything else fell. It also signals that major traditional finance players are still deepening their crypto exposure despite the day's turbulence.

• –T. Rowe Price, which manages $1.9 trillion in assets, launched its first actively managed multi-token crypto ETF — a sign that large asset managers are moving beyond simple Bitcoin exposure toward diversified crypto products.
• –JPMorgan said Bitcoin's outlook shows an 'encouraging sign' after Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) boosted its cash reserves, suggesting the firm sees the current dip as consistent with a resilient longer-term picture.
• –Trump's comments on China, layered on top of the Iran strike news, added a second front of macro uncertainty that kept traders on edge through Thursday's session.