Power plant ultimatum spooks traders
Bitcoin’s price tumbled to $69,192 on Sunday morning, falling 2.2% in 24 hours and 3.1% over the week, after U.S. president Donald Trump issued a dramatic 48-hour ultimatum to Iran regarding the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump threatened to “hit and obliterate” Iran’s power plants—starting with the largest—if commercial shipping wasn’t restored through the vital oil corridor. The Strait remains effectively closed, with roughly 20% of global oil and gas flows still disrupted, putting additional pressure on already jittery markets.
The threat of direct strikes on Iranian infrastructure marked a sharp escalation, prompting traders across both crypto and traditional markets to rapidly unwind riskier positions. For Bitcoin, this meant a swift reversal from its earlier gains last week, with the digital currency slipping below key psychological levels as uncertainty mounted.
CoinGlass data shows that 84,239 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours as tensions rose.
Liquidations spike as tensions climb
The sudden selloff triggered massive liquidations across crypto derivatives platforms. According to coindesk.com, $299 million in total positions were wiped out in the past 24 hours alone, impacting over 84,000 traders. Longs accounted for about 85% of these losses—$254 million—including $122 million just from Bitcoin long bets and $95.7 million from Ether positions. The largest single liquidation was a $10 million BTC-USDT swap on OKX.
For many leveraged traders, the rout was swift and punishing.
Other major tokens mirrored Bitcoin’s slide: Ether dropped 1.8% to $2,114; XRP fell 2.5% to $1.41; BNB lost 1.4% at $633; Solana slid 2.1% to $88.55; Dogecoin retreated by 2.7% to $0.092. Only Ether (up 0.8%) and Solana (up 0.7%) managed weekly gains among top coins—a micro-contrast in an otherwise red market.
Crypto selloff mirrors stock retreat
The risk-off mood extended far beyond digital assets. The S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and even gold all posted declines alongside Bitcoin’s drop—while crude oil surged by 7.3% for the week and is now up more than 53% since late February when US–Israel hostilities with Iran began escalating. This broad-based retreat highlights how geopolitical shocks can simultaneously hit stocks, commodities, and crypto.
ETF flows tell a similar story: spot Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows totaling $253 million over just two days, while traditional stock ETFs experienced a record-breaking $64 billion exodus from S&P 500 and Nasdaq funds in three months—a reversal from November’s $50 billion inflows and equal to about 5% of total assets under management.
On paper, Bitcoin has outperformed gold since February’s Middle East escalation—but recent volatility shows that digital assets are not immune when global risk appetite vanishes overnight.
See Also
Strait closure hits oil, hits Bitcoin
Oil prices have been exceptionally volatile: Brent crude traded at around $105 per barrel as of Friday—up nearly 50% since late February—with some Saudi officials warning that prices could spike as high as $180 if disruptions persist into April or beyond. Oil transits through the Strait of Hormuz have plummeted from over 25 million barrels per day in February to between 7.5–9.7 million by mid-March, according to industry trackers Kpler and Vortexa.
A surge in oil can ripple through global inflation: a U.S. Federal Reserve study found that every 10% rise in crude adds roughly 0.35–0.40 percentage points to U.S consumer prices (CPI). With markets no longer pricing in a second rate cut until at least October 2027, higher energy costs could mean tighter financial conditions for much longer—a scenario that weighs heavily on both stocks and digital assets like Bitcoin.
Why it matters: Practical impact for investors
For everyday investors, this week’s events underscore how quickly geopolitical shocks can upend even seemingly strong trends in crypto and equities alike. Nearly $300 million in liquidations—$122 million just from Bitcoin longs—showcases the risks of leverage during periods of heightened uncertainty.
Meanwhile, spot Bitcoin ETF flows remain positive on a monthly basis ($1.48 billion), but persistent outflows during crisis moments highlight the fragility of investor sentiment when headlines turn grim or unpredictable.
It’s unclear whether Bitcoin will repeat its post-invasion pattern from February 2022—when it initially sold off after Russia attacked Ukraine before staging a short-lived bounce—especially given today’s unique mix of surging oil prices and central banks delaying rate cuts far into the future.
What could tip the balance
If Iran fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within the 48-hour window set by President Trump late Saturday, immediate U.S. military action targeting Iran's power plants could follow, likely triggering further volatility in Bitcoin and broader markets as roughly 20% of global oil and gas flows remain disrupted.