Geopolitical tensions are escalating, but Bitcoin hasn’t seen any major price action. Noones CEO Ray Youssef explains why.
The rising tensions in the Middle East expose a flaw in how some traders view Bitcoin (BTC). Instead of acting as a hedge, Bitcoin behaves like a tech stock, says Ray Youssef, CEO of Crypto Peer-to-Peer payment and trading platform Noonones.
“The market doesn’t like surprises, but recently, cryptography hasn’t seemed to be much more responsive. Over the past week, Iran’s biggest crypto exchange, rising tensions in the Middle East, and even signs of a digital warfare have been targeting its target.
Yossef also highlighted a $100 million violation of Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange. Perhaps the hacks, carried out by the predatory Sparrow, a hacking group with Israeli ties, would have ringed the alarm bell earlier.
Escalation of tension is usually positive for hedged assets. However, the Bitcoin response was muted and continued trading for around $105,000. At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) also traded between $2,120 and $2,330. This amounts to 871,000 ETH over a week despite a significant whale influx.
Bitcoin fails as a hedge asset for now: Yossef
According to Youssef, the lack of Bitcoin’s movement suggests that its hedge assets story is losing traction in today’s market.
Bitcoin does not appear to function as a hedging asset. Instead, they behave like a high beta high tech stock that gets caught up in the macro style but doesn’t actually pilot their own ship. The link between the BTC and the Nasdaq 100 is still strong at 0.68,” says Ray Yossef of Noones.
Still, Youssef notes that geopolitical risks drive change within the broader crypto landscape. Bitcoin control is approaching 66% as traders retreated from the more risky altcoins. As global tensions continue, this turn towards BTC could accelerate, especially when capital controls, sanctions and infrastructure disruptions enter the mix.
