Bitcoin Falls Below $80,000 as U.S. Middle East Evacuations Rattle Crypto Markets

Bitcoin fell below $80,000 over the weekend after the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that the U.S. is evacuating personnel from embassies and military bases across the Middle East. In a Friday memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton wrote that "Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel," according to the report. BTC traded at $80,160, down 2.4% on the week. Ethereum dropped 3.8% to $2,322 and Solana slipped 3.2% to $101, while the broader CMC20 index lost 2.3%. Over 30 days, Bitcoin is down 4.8% against an average 16.5% decline among major peers, with Dogecoin off 22.3% and XRP down 17.4%. Privacy tokens bucked the trend, with Zcash up 8% on the week and 135% on the year, and Monero up 37%. Bitcoin ETFs recorded $138 million in net outflows Friday, while ETH ETFs drew $4 million in inflows. Investors face a heavy macro week: FOMC, ECB and Bank of Japan rate decisions run Wednesday through Friday alongside Q3 GDP and PCE data, plus earnings from Robinhood on Tuesday and Coinbase and Strategy on Thursday.