Crypto Market Liquidations Top $1.1 Billion, BTC, ETH Crash Amid Iran-Israel Conflict

Crypto market liquidations surged past $1.1 billion with BTC, ETH, XRP, and other altcoins dropping 4-10%, soon after Israel launched a major military attack on Iran in early Asian hours of Friday. The global markets quickly turned to a risk-off sentiment, with Gold and oil prices surging, as investors took a flight to safety. Crypto market veterans believe that this could be a momentary reaction, triggering panic selling.

Crypto Market Crash: Bitcoin Down 4%, Altcoins Drop 5-8%

Amid today’s cryptocurrency market crash, Bitcoin price tanked by 4%, slipping under $103,000 levels with altcoins facing an even steeper fall. As per the Coingape analysis, BTC could fill the CME gap and drop all the way to $92,000 if the selling pressure continues.

Ethereum (ETH) is down 9%, slipping to the key support of $2,500, while other altcoins have also corrected to the tune of 5-10% in the past few hours. Coinglass data shows that the overall crypto market liquidation has soared to more than $1.14 billion, with more than $1 billion in long liquidations.

Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes already warned about market volatility, citing upcoming Trump tariffs. Following today’s crash, Hayes wrote: “Hold on to your butts out there degens,” hinting that this a knee-jerk reaction in the market and investors should not resolve to panic selling.  Popular Bitcoin investor Anthony Pompliano also shared a similar outlook, noting:

“Oil up. Gold up. Bitcoin down. Initial reaction follows exactly what happened when Iran shot 300 missiles at Israel. Bitcoin ended up outperforming the other two over the first 48 hours in that situation. Will be interesting to see what happens here”.

As the Iran-Israel conflict escalated, S&P 500 futures also lost 1.9%, showing major selling pressure in global markets. Iran has said that it would respond to the Israeli strikes “harshly” following today’s attacks

Crude Oil, Gold Jumps On Higher Demand

In an hour of the attack, the Crude Oil WTI surged more than 13%, hitting the price of $77 per barrel. On the other hand, the gold price also surged, crossing $3,410 per ounce. Commenting on the development, Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff wrote:

“In response to Israel launching an airstrike against Iran, gold is up another $24 in early Asian trading, back above $3,410. Bitcoin, on the other hand, just tanked below $104.5K. Priced in gold, Bitcoin is now more than 15% below its Nov. 2021 peak. Bitcoin’s failure to rise against gold is strong evidence that the bubble has peaked”.

Schiff said that since the May lows, oil prices have already gone up by 30%. ” Anyone hoping for lower inflation or Fed rate cuts based on falling oil prices needs to rethink their assumptions,” he added. The crypto market volatility can likely continue moving ahead amid the US CPI data release this week, along with the brewing geopolitical tensions.