Bitcoin drops below $73,000 as war fear drives money out of risk

Bitcoin fell below $73,000 on Thursday and traded near $72,600. That is down more than 5.5% over five days, according to Bitcoin Magazine. The drop came as investors pulled back from risky assets. This followed US strikes on Iranian drones and an exchange of fire between the two sides.

The selling showed up in funds too. More than $1 billion left spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds last week. These are funds that hold bitcoin and trade like stocks. Fortune reported bitcoin near $73,460 in early New York trading. That was almost $2,000 below the day before.

Gold went the other way. The metal traded near $4,500 an ounce, up about 1% on the day. Earlier it had fallen to a two-month low close to $4,390, Trading Economics data showed. Silver slipped to about $74.26 an ounce, down roughly 0.9%.

The split is worth watching. When investors are scared, they have been buying gold and selling bitcoin. People often call bitcoin a form of digital hard money. But the market still treats it partly as a risk asset that moves up and down with stocks. Gold is an older, trusted store of value, and it again served as a safe place to put money.

Some firms are trying to profit from these price swings. Calamos is selling bitcoin funds with built-in downside protection. These funds cap how much an investor can lose. The firm is betting that nervous investors will move into them.