Trump’s Iran Ceasefire Collapse Triggers Crypto Sell-Off and Stock Market Pressure

Here’s another rewritten version with a fresh news-reporting style:

Bitcoin and major altcoins extended losses after President Donald Trump declared the Iran ceasefire “over” following renewed military strikes between Washington and Tehran.

Crypto markets turned negative on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions sparked a broad risk-off move. The CoinDesk 20 Index declined 2.9% since the start of the UTC session, with nearly every cryptocurrency in the index posting losses.

Trump, speaking alongside NATO officials, said the ceasefire agreement with Iran had collapsed and criticized continued negotiations as ineffective, though reports suggested diplomatic efforts were still underway.

The U.S. Central Command said American forces struck more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels in an effort to protect international shipping routes. Iran later responded with attacks targeting Kuwait and Bahrain.

The renewed escalation supported the U.S. dollar as investors evaluated the potential impact on inflation and global markets. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, both declined more than 2%.

Altcoins experienced heavier selling, with lower-liquidity tokens such as JUP, ETHFI, and PUMP dropping more than 5%.

The pressure also spread to equities, with Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures falling as much as 1.5% during the session.

Derivatives show mixed signals

Although Bitcoin slipped toward $62,000, it remains up approximately 6% for July. Derivatives data offered a small positive sign, showing traders have not aggressively increased bearish bets against the market rebound. Bitcoin futures open interest declined to roughly 730,000 BTC from above 740,000 BTC a day earlier.

Ether’s derivatives market appeared weaker, with open interest holding near 13.95 million ETH despite the price drop triggering about $90 million in liquidations. Bitcoin liquidations totaled slightly above $100 million over the same period.

Canton Network’s CC token faced additional pressure, falling to its lowest price since January as futures open interest reached a two-week high. Rising open interest alongside falling prices and deeply negative funding rates, close to -20%, suggests some traders may be opening short positions.

Market indicators also showed increasing bearish momentum across leading cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and Ether posted negative open interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD), indicating that sellers were driving price action through aggressive market selling.

Options markets reflected growing demand for protection against further declines. Bitcoin’s and Ether’s 30-day implied volatility indexes, BVIV and EVIV, increased for the second consecutive day.

On Deribit, one-week options skew moved higher, with puts commanding a larger premium as traders sought downside protection. The skew increased to nearly 20% from 16% a day earlier, signaling stronger demand for bearish hedges.

Despite the defensive positioning, Bitcoin call options at the $80,000 strike saw the highest trading activity over the past 24 hours, indicating some investors remain optimistic about a recovery.

Altcoins face deeper losses

The altcoin market suffered the largest share of liquidations, with CoinGlass data showing about $350 million of the total $450 million in liquidated positions coming from altcoin pairs.

Solana (SOL) gave up its recent gains, falling back to around $77 after briefly approaching $84 earlier in the week.

MORPHO was a notable exception, rising about 4% as the DeFi protocol’s total value locked climbed to a record 4 million ETH, according to DefiLlama.

Meanwhile, several altcoins have moved into oversold territory, with the average RSI falling to 40 from 47 the previous day. The decline suggests some tokens may be approaching levels where buyers could begin to step in if broader market conditions stabilize.