Bitcoin, oil prices rally following Iran air strike

Nothing like the threat of World War III to move markets. The price of Bitcoin today jumped nearly 6 percent and is now trading above the $7,300 per coin mark, according to data from Messari.

And among the contributing factors leading to Bitcoin’s sudden surge appears to be the U.S. drone strike in Iran that killed one of its top military leaders—Qasem Soleimani—at an airport in Baghdad. The cryptocurrency’s price exploded mere hours after the attack, along with oil prices.

Global economic strain seems to have given way to the asset’s newfound bullish behavior, but at what cost? Several industry leaders—including e-Toro’s Mati Greenspan and Matthew Graham of Sino Global Capital—believe the currency’s price is growing because Iranians are buying up bitcoin as the political environment heats up.

This latest price increase comes after Bitcoin once again dropped into the $6,000 per coin range just yesterday.

But for long-term hodlers who prefer a broader view, the previous decade could be seen as wildly positive for Bitcoin. Today marks the 11-year anniversary of the first block in the Bitcoin blockchain. Since then, the world’s number one cryptocurrency by market cap has had quite a run. Nearly 500 million bitcoin transactions have occurred through more than half-a-million blocks utilizing 10,000 nodes.

Meanwhile, as BTC goes, so does the rest of the crypto market: Ethereum, EOS, Litecoin, and Bitcoin cash are all up today anywhere between five and 12 percent.