Bitcoin tumbles amid US‑Iran tensions, government‑shutdown fears and weak ETF demand

Bitcoin fell sharply on Wednesday, dropping more than 6% in 24 hours and briefly dipping into the low $83,000 range as US‑Iran tensions, near‑certain U.S. government shutdown fears and a severe North American winter storm prompted risk‑off positioning, BeInCrypto reported. BeInCrypto said geopolitical risk resurfaced after Washington issued fresh warnings toward Tehran and Iran signalled readiness to respond, with increased naval movements and sanctions rhetoric raising miscalculation concerns.

The outlet added that markets often treat early geopolitical escalation as a risk‑off signal rather than a hedge, amplifying de‑risking when liquidity is thin. The report also highlighted stalled U.S. funding talks that have traders pricing in a government shutdown; historically Bitcoin has fallen during past shutdowns, losing as much as 16% in prior episodes, BeInCrypto noted.

Compounding the mood, a severe winter storm has caused outages and transport delays, and reportedly forced miners offline, pushing hashrate down 12% since Nov. 11 to about 970 EH/s — the lowest since Sept. 2025, according to a CryptoQuant tweet cited by the article. Price action showed a prolonged drift lower and a late‑session breakdown with little buying response, behaviour BeInCrypto said points to forced selling such as liquidations and stop‑loss triggers.

The outlet cited Coinglass data showing over $460 million in liquidations on Jan.

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