Bitcoin plunged to as low as 63,068 USD overnight before finding support around 63,500 USD, marking a roughly 6% drop from Thursday's close of 67,469 USD as geopolitical tensions escalated.
The catalyst: President Trump announced a "massive strike" against Iran, with U.S. and Israeli forces launching preemptive attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities and military targets late Friday, according to multiple reports.
Iran responded with retaliatory strikes, sending oil prices surging over 5% and driving a classic risk-off move across global markets, with the VIX spiking and safe-haven assets like gold and the USD gaining ground.
Liquidations Cascade: $522M Wiped in 24 Hours
Liquidations amplified the downside: aggregate crypto futures liquidations hit approximately 522 million USD over the past 24 hours, predominantly long positions as leveraged traders got caught on the wrong side of the sudden volatility.
Bitcoin-specific liquidations topped 200 million USD, with Ethereum contributing around 120 million USD and other majors like Solana and XRP adding to the carnage, per aggregated data from platforms like Coinglass and Hyblock Capital.
This marks one of the heaviest liquidation days since January's market top, underscoring how thin liquidity has become amid ongoing deleveraging from the prior rally.
Altcoins Hit Harder in Risk-Off Selloff
The broader crypto market shed roughly 4% in total capitalization, with Ethereum dipping to around 1,900 USD before steadying near 1,931 USD.
Altcoins took a harder hit: XRP fell toward 1.30 USD, Cardano approached 0.35 USD lows, and high-beta plays like meme coins and DeFi tokens shed 8-12%, reflecting their sensitivity to risk sentiment. Trading volume spiked to over 100 billion USD across centralized exchanges, but much of it was panic selling rather than fresh buying.
Outlook: Geopolitics Trumps Technicals
Geopolitical risks now dominate the near-term outlook. While Bitcoin has shown resilience as a "digital gold" in past conflicts, the speed and scale of this escalation caught leveraged positions flat-footed, leading to cascading liquidations that exacerbated the move.
Analysts note that if U.S.-Iran tensions de-escalate quickly, BTC could rebound toward 68,000 USD resistance; prolonged conflict, however, risks testing the 60,000 USD psychological level and potentially dragging alts lower. For now, traders are advised to reduce leverage and monitor headlines closely, as macro volatility has firmly taken control from technical factors.
