Crypto’s 24-Hour Promise Gets a Geopolitical Reality Check (1)

Bitcoin has long been promoted as offering something other markets cannot: a 24-hour, real-time read on global risk.

Instead, it made a round trip. The token fell when news of US strikes on Iran broke, then traded erratically before moving higher. By Monday, it was changing hands higher than pre-attack levels — leaving little durable evidence of either fear or flight.

The move reflects something bigger. After plunging roughly 50% from its peak, Bitcoin’s has been stuck in a narrowed range of roughly $60,000 to $70,000, with much of the leverage having already been forced out since crypto’s meltdown in ...