Bitcoin climbed back to around $66,500 after weekend turmoil tied to strikes on Iran triggered roughly $300 million in liquidations across crypto markets. While oil surged and equities retreated, several DeFi tokens posted relative strength.
The leading cryptocurrency gained 1.1% since midnight UTC and more than 5% from its weekend trough near $63,000. Despite last week’s volatility — which saw prices probe as high as $70,000 and as low as $62,500 — bitcoin remains locked within the broader trading range that has defined price action since early February.
The sharp weekend swings followed military strikes that reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, prompting retaliatory attacks and heightening fears of disruption along the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global energy shipments.
According to trading firm QCP, the initial shock sparked approximately $300 million in long liquidations. However, the magnitude of forced selling was viewed as relatively moderate, suggesting many traders had already reduced risk ahead of the weekend escalation.
Traditional safe-haven assets rallied. Gold and silver climbed to their highest levels in over a month, while oil jumped 13% to $82 per barrel — the strongest level since July 2024. Meanwhile, U.S. equity index futures weakened, with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 contracts falling 1.1% and 1.5%, respectively, since midnight UTC.
Notably, most of crypto’s losses occurred on Saturday when U.S. markets were closed, pointing to a degree of resilience once traditional investors returned.
Derivatives positioning
Market data indicate the fallout has been contained relative to the geopolitical shock. Total crypto futures open interest has dipped 2% to $93.78 billion but remains above the recent low of $92.40 billion.
More than $300 million in leveraged positions were liquidated over 24 hours, with long positions accounting for the bulk of the wipeout. Perpetual funding rates for major assets such as bitcoin and ether have edged slightly negative, reflecting a modest bearish tilt without signaling outright panic.
Volatility metrics tell a similar story. Bitcoin’s 30-day annualized implied volatility index (BVIV) is holding near 58.8%, comfortably within last week’s range. Ether’s volatility gauge shows a comparable pattern.
On Deribit, short-dated bitcoin puts traded at an 8%–10% implied volatility premium to calls, underscoring elevated demand for downside protection. The $60,000 put remains the most popular contract on the exchange, and block trades highlighted interest in put spreads.
Token performance
Altcoins broadly mirrored bitcoin’s weekend swings, though some DeFi names rebounded quickly. Lending protocol token MORPHO extended its two-week rally, rising 5% over the past 24 hours and 2.6% since midnight UTC.
Other decentralized finance tokens — including JUP, AAVE and LDO — also posted gains, signaling that speculative appetite has not fully evaporated despite the broader shift toward traditional haven assets.
Hyperliquid’s HYPE token surged more than 29% on Saturday, snapping its February downtrend. Although it eased 3.8% on Monday, it continues to hold above the key $30 support level.
In contrast, WLFI, the DeFi token associated with U.S. President Donald Trump’s family, extended its decline, falling 2.5% since midnight and more than 44% from mid-January highs amid a pattern of lower highs and lower lows.
Among benchmarks, CoinDesk’s DeFi Select (DFX) Index was the only major gauge in positive territory over the past 24 hours. The weakest performers were the CoinDesk Computing Select Index (CPUS) and the CoinDesk Smart Contract Platform Select Capped Index (SCPXC), down 1.87% and 1.71%, respectively.
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