- Bitcoin fell below $70,000, declining 2.8% over the past 24 hours amid rising geopolitical tensions and a surge in oil prices.
- Liquidations totaled approximately $272 million over the past day, with long positions accounting for over $200 million of the forced unwinds.
- Ethereum led liquidations with roughly $105 million, while Bitcoin saw $73 million wiped out.
Bitcoin (BTC) slumped below $70,000 on Thursday morning, after oil prices crossed $100 again amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The selloff triggered a wave of liquidations led by Ethereum (ETH), which underperformed Bitcoin alongside most altcoin majors.
Bitcoin’s price fell 2.8% in the last 24 hours to around $69,500. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency remained in ‘bearish’ territory, with ‘low’ chatter over the past day.
The overall cryptocurrency market fell nearly 3% in the last 24 hours, dipping back below the $2.5 trillion mark. CoinGlass data showed liquidations at around $272 million, with long bets accounting for over $200 million. Ethereum (ETH) saw the largest bulk of forced unwinds, amounting to $105 million, followed by Bitcoin at $73 million.
Altcoins Lead Losses Among Crypto Majors
Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) led losses among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, each falling more than 5%. Dogecoin’s price fell 5.4% to around $0.091, while Solana’s price dipped 5.1% to around $87.89. Ethereum’s price was barely hanging on above the $2,000 mark, down 5.3% in the last 24 hours.
All three altcoins saw retail sentiment trending in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, as per Stocktwits data. Chatter levels around Dogecoin remained at ‘low’ levels, while Ethereum saw ‘normal’ message volume. Solana was the only one among the three to see chatter increased to ‘high’ from ‘normal’ levels over the past day.
The only cryptocurrency major in the green was Tron (TRX), edging higher by 0.4% in the last 24 hours to around $0.31. Retail sentiment around Tron’s token on Stockwits rose to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ territory over the past day, accompanied by chatter at ‘high’ levels.
Cardano (ADA) and Ripple’s (XRP) also underperformed Bitcoin in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Cardano’s price fell 4.8% to around $0.25, and XRP’s price tumbled 3.7% to around $1.37.
Why Is Crypto Falling?
Crude oil prices rose on Thursday morning, putting pressure on cryptocurrency and equity markets. The price of Brent crude oil rose 2.74% to around $100.9 at the time of writing, while the price of West Texas crude oil 2.5% to around $92.7.
The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 3% in pre-market trade, with retail sentiment on Stocktwits trending in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, and chatter falling to ‘normal’ from ‘high’ levels.
The war between the U.S. and Iran has now entered its 27th day. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump said on Thursday morning that Iran is “begging” the U.S. for a deal, while publicly posturing that it's only “looking at our proposal.”
According to reports, the U.S. sent a 15-point peace plan to Iran via Pakistan. Reuters reported that Iran's state media said the leadership that it’s reviewing the proposal but has no intention of engaging in discussions with the U.S.
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