**Crypto News:**

- Middle East tensions sent BTC lower in the first half of Asian trading on Wednesday.

- The CoinDesk 20, an index of the most liquid digital assets, posted its worst drop in weeks.

- BTC surged above $61,500 on Wednesday morning after falling as low as $60,300 late Tuesday.

- Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, raising concerns of more attacks.

- BTC is down 6% in 24 hours, marking the worst start to a historically strong month.

- Gold is up 0.8%, highlighting the difference in asset maturity.

- The CoinDesk 20 is down 4.7%, Dogecoin is down 8%, XRP, SOL, BNB, and ETH are down 6%.

- Small tokens like SEI, FLOKI, and STARK are down up to 16%.