- Explosions were reported in Tehran, and parts of Israel went on red alert on Saturday.
- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz proclaimed a state of emergency throughout Israel.
- The news sparked panic in the crypto market, resulting in nearly $137 million worth of liquidations within an hour.
Israel launched a "preemptive attack" on Iran on Saturday, where explosions were heard in Tehran, and parts of Israel went on red alert.
The geopolitical escalation immediately shook up the financial markets, causing many cryptocurrencies to drop sharply and a wave of liquidations across leveraged derivatives positions.
On Saturday morning, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the strike and declared a state of emergency throughout Israel. The Israeli military called the operation a proactive step to get rid of threats to the state. Shortly after the announcement, explosions were heard in Tehran. The situation got worse after U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva fell apart earlier this week. These talks had already begun to raise oil prices and put pressure on global stock markets.
Crypto Markets Bleed
Within 15 minutes of the reports, people sold off $100 million worth of long crypto positions. Market data show that total liquidations have risen to $136.98 million over the last hour, according to Coinglass data.
Liquidation heatmaps show that Bitcoin and Ethereum accounted for the largest share of forced closures. Traders who were betting on higher prices were caught off guard by the sudden geopolitical shock. In the last 15 minutes, Bitcoin saw $14.165 million in positions liquidated, according to Coinalyze.
Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to $64,120.87, a 2.14% drop in the last hour and more than 5% in the last 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Bitcoin remained in the ‘neutral’ zone, as chatter levels remained in the ‘low’ over the past day.
Ethereum (ETH) fell to $1,870.72, a 2.37% drop in the last hour and more than 8% in the last 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around Ethereum remained in ‘bearish’ territory, with chatter at ‘low’ levels over the past day.
Binance Coin (BNB) was worth $600.27, down 1.32% in the last hour and down by 5% in the last 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around BNB remained in the ‘bearish’ territory, with the chatter at ‘neutral’ levels over the past day.
Ripple’s XRP (XRP) dropped 1.98% to $1.32 in the past hour and is down by 7.7% in the last 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around XRP remained in the ‘bearish’ territory with chatter at ‘low’ levels over the past day.
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