Bitcoin’s price has hit a new record for 2020, reaching as high as $8,438 before retracing slightly.

At 23:30 UTC on Jan. 7, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization began a strong upward trend from $8,080 to above $8,400 before topping out at $8,438 in just over 40 minutes.

The move to fresh 2020 highs comes after Iranian missiles struck U.S. and coalition bases in Iraq, causing traders to reallocate capital into safe-haven assets such as gold and oil away from riskier assets.

Joshua Green, head of trading at Digital Asset Capital Management – a cryptocurrency trading firm said the BTC rally was a response to the unfolding events in Iraq.

“You are also seeing oil and gold up strongly,” Green said.

CoinDesk BPI Source: Bitcoin Price Index

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.41 percent while the S&P 500 index is down 0.28 percent.

Crude oil has risen significantly and is up 4.3 percent while the spot price of gold has is up 2.19 percent to around $1,608 per troy ounce.

BTC is now looking to cement its position as the leading safe-haven asset, at least in crypto, amid heightened geopolitical tensions.