Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has dropped below its critical $60,000 support level once more, falling 5.44% in just two-hours, amid geopolitical tensions escalating in the Middle East.

On April 19, Bitcoin’s price briefly slumped down to $59,698 before quickly recovering to $61,352. It’s a crucial breakdown to note, given that if its price slumps down to $59,000 then approximately $243 million in long positions will be liquidated, as per CoinGlass data. 

This comes amid Iranian state media reporting that explosions had been heard at Isfahan airport in central Iran, as per a recent local report.

On April 13, Bitcoin price experienced similar volatility, plummeting 8.4% after Iran launched an attack on Israel, escalating geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East.

At the time, the price decline wiped out over $130 million in market capitalization within minutes following news of the attack.

Bitcoin holders are also bracing for heightened volatility as the halving event, which slashes miners’ rewards in half every four years, approaches on April 20.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index — a major tool tracking the market sentiment in cryptocurrency markets — is down 13 points since last week’s greed index of 79.

Bitcoin’s price has been threading above the $60,000 mark over the past 7-days, but briefly fell from an opening of $63,814 on April 17, dropping as much as 7.5% to an intra-day low of $59,648, as per data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro.

Open Interest (OI) in Bitcoin has also experienced a slump over the past 7-days dropping approximately 17.6% to $28.06 billion.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.