Cryptocurrency traders lost $300 million from leveraged short and long position liquidations in the last 24 hours. The liquidation apex occurred amid significant volatility as explosions echoed in Iran under the suspicion of an attack by Israel.
Geopolitical tensions have again brought damaging volatility to the cryptocurrency market a week after Iran’s unprecedented offensive against Israel. On that occasion, crypto traders registered nearly $2 billion in 48 hours of liquidations, mostly from long positions.
Now, 90,133 traders have lost $291.12 million in 24 hours, with Bitcoin (BTC) leading with $107.44 million. Finbold retrieved the liquidation data from CoinGlass a few hours after the attack.
Liquidation heatmap on April 19. Source: CoinGlass
Unconfirmed Israel’s attack amid explosions in Iran
Interestingly, U.S. officials have told CBS News “that an Israeli missile hit Iran in the early hours of Friday,” reported BBC this morning.
However, according to a Reuters report, the two countries involved in the conflict have not yet confirmed the attack’s origin. As reported, the Iranian media described explosions in Iran, which they said resulted from its air defense hitting three drones. Yet, an Iranian official was unable to confirm its source.
“The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack,” the official said.
Iran-Israel escalation effects on financial markets and crypto traders
In financial markets, global shares eased, oil prices surged, and U.S. bond yields fell as traders worried about the risks. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies registered huge volatility that punished long- and short-leveraged crypto traders.
This Iran-Israel conflict escalation has raised fears of global impact, and the world’s eyes are turned to the Middle East. From an economic perspective, the markets are pricing war risks, and capital is outflowing from speculative assets while inflowing to solid hedges, like gold and silver.
Nevertheless, crypto traders find balance amid positive expectations regarding the Bitcoin halving at block height 840,000, which is awaited today.
