Geopolitical risks hit risk assets, Bitcoin falls from six-week high and drops below $72,000.

Against the backdrop of escalating conflict in the Middle East and the resulting increase in global market risk aversion, Bitcoin saw a decline after reaching a stage high. On Wednesday, Bitcoin, as the world's largest cryptocurrency, fell by more than 3.6% at one point, reaching a low of $71,560. Earlier this week, Bitcoin had risen to nearly $76,000, hitting its highest level since early February. At the same time, other more volatile cryptocurrencies also weakened, with Ethereum and Solana both falling by about 5%, indicating overall pressure on the crypto market in a declining risk appetite environment. Stocks related to the crypto sector also fell, with Circle (CRCL.US) down by over 1.8%, MicroStrategy (MSTR.US) down by over 5%, Coinbase (COIN.US) down by over 4%, and Robinhood (HOOD.US) down by over 2.7%. Market analysts pointed out that this round of corrections is closely related to political risks with GEO Group Inc. Hanson Birringer, Managing Director of Flowdesk, stated that after news of Israeli attacks on Iranian South Pars oil and gas facilities, the market quickly shifted to a "risk-aversion" mode, coupled with the weakening of the US tech sector, dragging down the performance of crypto assets. From a market structure perspective, Bitcoin has repeatedly faced resistance above $70,000 recently, showing a lack of upward momentum. Blockchain data company Glassnode pointed out that short-term holders have been continuously realizing profits in this price range, weakening the momentum for further price breakthroughs, a pattern that has appeared multiple times in the past few weeks. Despite this, Bitcoin's current price is still about 40% lower than its historical high of around $126,000 in early October this year, reflecting a cooling demand for the overall crypto market influenced by multiple factors such as expectations of changes in Fed policy, political uncertainty with GEO Group Inc, and fluctuations in institutional demand. However, from a fund flow perspective, the market is showing signs of stabilization. Glassnode stated that signals in the spot market are generally "divergent but leaning towards positive", on-chain activity remains relatively stable, and the overall market environment is gradually showing signs of stability and slow recovery. In addition, fund inflows into exchange-traded funds also show a recovery in institutional confidence. Data shows that in the past week, net inflows into US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs exceeded $750 million, marking the third consecutive week of net inflows, indicating that institutional investors are reshuffling their position in this asset class.