BTC Rebounds to $68K Mark After Iranian Supreme Leader's Death
Following the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, Bitcoin climbed past $68,000, erasing recent declines, though February still marked its third-poorest performance on record.
The price of Bitcoin has bounced back from its decline that occurred in the wake of air strikes conducted by the United States and Israel against Iran, along with confirmation of the Iranian Supreme Leader's death.
Early Sunday morning trading saw Bitcoin (BTC) climb to $68,200 on the Coinbase exchange, data from TradingView indicates.
The digital currency has now recouped its entire loss from Saturday's plunge to $63,000, gaining approximately $5,000 within a 24-hour period after reports emerged that joint US-Israeli military operations against Iran had begun.
At present, BTC is trading near Friday's price points, hovering around $67,350 as of this report, though it continues to operate within a range-bound pattern spanning three weeks.
Within the last 24-hour period, approximately 157,000 traders experienced liquidation events, with aggregate liquidations totaling $657 million, distributed nearly equally between long and short leveraged positions, data from CoinGlass shows.
Iranian Supreme Leader Killed
According to BBC reports, Iran's Supreme National Security Council confirmed that Ayatollah Khamenei was killed during the early hours of Saturday morning while at his office location.
On Truth Social, his social media platform, US President Donald Trump characterized the hardline Islamist cleric as "one of the most evil people in history."
This is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all great Americans, and those people from many countries throughout the world, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty thugs.
Mohammad Pakpour, who served as commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Defense Council, also perished during the strikes carried out by the US and Israel.
Analyst Ash Crypto offered commentary on Sunday, stating: "After news of Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei's death, the market pumped because people are taking it as the end of the US-Iran war."
He further elaborated: "If this conflict shows signs of resolution before Monday's open, I think Bitcoin can hold its gains and move higher."
Bitcoin's third-worst February ever
Notwithstanding the recent price recovery, Bitcoin has just concluded what stands as its third-worst February performance in its history, marking only the fourth occasion since 2013 that the cryptocurrency has finished the month with negative returns.
Last month saw BTC decline by just under 15%, though its most disastrous February occurred in 2014 with a 31% loss, followed by 2025's 17.4% decline, data from CoinGlass reveals.
Additionally, the cryptocurrency is currently positioned to record its most challenging first-quarter performance since 2018, having declined nearly 23% from the start of the calendar year to date.