Bitcoin’s price has crashed below $100,000 for the first time since May 25th, charting a decline of around 4% in the past 24 hours alone. The cryptocurrency is down 5.5% throughout the last seven days.

The market downturn has also caused a broader selloff amongst altcoins, most of which are deep in the red, resulting in almost $1 billion worth of liquidated positions, according to CoinGlass.

As CryptoPotato reported earlier today, the US joined the war between Israel and Iran, striking three strategic nuclear Irany sites.

In response, some media reports indicate that the Iranian Parliament has voted in support of closing the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s most criticial oil transit chokepoints.

This resulted in immediate increase in oil prices, which are up almost 1% on the day, sparking international fears of inflation and economic turmoil. Traders are seemingly derisking and it’s interesting to see how deep this correction will extend.

As bitcoin (BTC) attempts to recover from the effects of tensions in the Middle East, demand for the digital asset is drying up. Market experts from the on-chain intelligence company CryptoQuant have discovered that Bitcoin demand is entering a slowdown period.

According to the latest CryptoQuant weekly report, the decline in Bitcoin demand comes after a period of acceleration that pushed the price of BTC towards $112,000. Demand-momentum metrics are currently showing their most negative readings on record — -2 million BTC.

Bitcoin Demand is Weakening

CryptoQuant revealed that Bitcoin spot demand has continued to grow but at a decelerated expansion rate. Apparent demand growth has fallen to 118,000 BTC over the last 30 days, compared to 228,000 BTC recorded on May 27. The metric is also below its 30-day moving average, indicating that the demand for BTC is weakening.

Bitcoin whale and spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have halved their purchases. The expansion of whale balances has fallen to 1.7% month-over-month (MoM) from 3.9% as of May 27. Daily BTC purchases from ETFs are also down from an April 23 local peak of 9,700 BTC to 3,300 BTC today.

Additionally, demand from new participants entering the Bitcoin market is low, and overall demand momentum has turned negative. Short-term holders now account for 4.5 million BTC, a decline of 0.8 million BTC from the 5.3 million BTC they controlled as of May 27.

Furthermore, investors in the futures market have sold their BTC to lock in profits and are currently opening new short positions. CryptoQuant said its Bitcoin Traders’ Behavior Dominance metric shows that participants offloaded their coins to take profits after BTC hit $110,000 last week. Afterward, they opened fresh short positions as BTC below $105,000 amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran.

What to Expect

For BTC to experience a sustained rally, whales and spot ETFs need to increase their demand for the cryptocurrency. New investors also need to buy BTC from the old ones, thereby expanding the balances of short-term holders.

If demand continues to decline, BTC could plummet below $100,000 and fall to the support zone near $92,000. The crypto asset was hovering around $102,700 at the time of writing following the attacks from the US against Iran.

Meanwhile, CryptoQuant has identified $92,000 as the Traders’ On-chain Realized Price, which often acts as price support during bull markets. If BTC falls below this level, it could plunge to $81,000, which has been marked as the lower band of the Traders’ On-chain Realized Price.

At the time of this writing, Bitcoin (BTC) was a couple of hundred dollars under $103,000, after dipping 4% in 24 hours, but Max Keiser is suggesting this volatility is mere tremors before a seismic surge to $800,000.

In a sit-down with Bitcoin Magazine’s Isabella Santos, the legendary BTC prophet claimed that the 10-year Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yield is the “lynchpin” threatening financial collapse and triggering Bitcoin’s epic moon mission.

The Road to $800K

In the interview, the Bitcoin bull laid out a doomsday scenario that could potentially lead to an astronomical spike in the king cryptocurrency’s price:

“There is one piece of data that is the lynchpin of the entire global financial system… It’s the rate of interest on the 10-year Japanese bond,” Keiser declared.

Currently, the yield is at about 3.5%, and any higher, the market watcher warned, could potentially lead to the collapse of the decades-long “yen carry trade,” where Wall Street borrowed near-zero-yen to fuel speculative investments.

“The Japanese economy is going to have to start selling U.S. Treasury bonds to stay solid, which would create a cascading event, what I call the bond apocalypse, where the global bond market crashes.”

He stated that if this were to happen, then trillions of dollars’ worth of capital would flee collapsing government debt and rush straight into BTC.

“In that environment, Bitcoin spikes to $500,000, $600,000, $800,000.”

Bearish Caution

While Keiser’s prediction might have gotten the crypto community on X talking, the market remains rather tense and confused. Pseudonymous trader Mr Wall Street hinted at a potential short-term nosedive to the $93,000 to $95,000 range, warning that the charts were “screaming for lower.”

Still, voices of resilience have been piping up, with analyst Axel Adler Jr. pointing to rising long liquidation dominance without a major price crash as a “good signal,” suggesting strong underlying buyer support.

Additionally, on-chain sleuth DeFiTracer sees cooling Middle East tensions due to Iran’s apparent openness to talks as well as Fed member Christopher J. Waller’s signal for July rate cuts as bullish signals. He suggested these catalysts are quietly shifting markets from uncertainty “into the trust phase.”