CRYPTO
The Iran Conflict Just Wiped Out $369 Million in Crypto Bets Overnight
More than 90,000 leveraged traders got caught on the wrong side of a risk-off move tied to the broader Middle East escalation, with long positions taking the brunt of the damage.
FinancialMarkets.com
The latest escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict triggered $369.67 million in cryptocurrency derivatives liquidations, with long positions accounting for $301.84 million of the total and short positions accounting for $67.83 million. More than 90,000 leveraged traders were affected. Bitcoin liquidations totaled $111.83 million, Ethereum liquidations totaled $95.39 million, including a single $11.99 million liquidation on Binance, and Solana liquidations totaled $27.09 million.
The episode sits inside the same risk-off move that has pushed oil above $95 a barrel, sent the 10-year Treasury yield to a multi-year high, and lifted the odds traders assign to a September Federal Reserve rate hike to 66%, up from roughly 40% a week earlier.
Bitcoin traded near $76,950, down about 1% over 24 hours, essentially flat for the day but still well below the roughly $78,500 to $79,000 range it occupied before the latest round of escalation began. The size of the liquidation total, heavily skewed toward long positions, suggests a large share of crypto's leveraged trading community had positioned for continued gains right before the geopolitical risk-off move hit.