Leading cryptocurrencies continued to trade in the red as geopolitical tensions kept risk appetite in check.

What Happened: Bitcoin chopped between $60,000 and $62,000 during the day, a day after falling to a nearly two-week low, as Iran’s missile attack and Israel’s retaliation promise squeezed demand.

Ethereum sank further, dipping below $2,400 during afternoon hours, and was down more than 7% over the week, compared to Bitcoin’s 3.18% weekly losses.

In the past 24 hours, the total cryptocurrency liquidations increased to $243.36 million, with long liquidations accounting for $181.22 million.

That said, Bitcoin’s funding rate on top exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and OKX continued to be positive, indicating the dominance of bullish traders.

The coin’s Long/Short Ratio also surged to 1.09, indicating a higher number of traders placing bullish bets as compared to those gunning for price declines.

The market sentiment remained in the “Fear” zone, according to the popular Cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24-Hours)

The global cryptocurrency stood at $2.12 trillion in the last 24 hours, following a drop of 1.27% in the last 24 hours.

Stocks ended Wednesday just above the flatline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 39.55 points, or 0.09%, to end at 42,196.52. The S&P 500 rose 0.01% to close at 5,709.54, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite closed 0.08% higher at 17,925.12.

Geopolitical tensions continued to boost crude oil prices, as the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 1.17% to $70.93 a barrel. 

Investors also parsed the better-than-expected private employment data, with 143,000 workers getting added to payrolls in September, compared to 103,000 in August. 

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Analyst Notes: Popular cryptocurrency trader Michaël van de Poppe revealed he was “heavily long” on Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market despite war fears.

“Last night, the markets corrected due to a panic reaction, but once things calmed down, markets quickly reversed back up. The bigger picture: liquidity is tremendously being added, fiat currencies devaluating, and such,” Van De Poppe remarked.

In response to his post, another widely followed investor, Crypto Yapper, said that such dips are “lifetime opportunities.”

However, away from the positivity, prominent market observer Ali Martinez issued a bearish forecast, saying, “Bitcoin could drop to $52,000 if the governing pattern behind the recent price action is a descending parallel channel!”