Bitcoin’s Wild Ride: $415M Liquidated in 4 Hours Amid US-Iran Tensions

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The cryptocurrency market experienced significant volatility Monday afternoon, resulting in over $400 million worth of positions being closed—both those betting on price increases and those betting on decreases—in just four hours.

On Monday afternoon, the price of Bitcoin jumped from $67,500 to over $71,200 after former U.S. President Donald Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he’d directed the Pentagon to delay any attacks on Iranian facilities for five days. He stated this followed “very good and productive conversations” between the U.S. and Iran.

Then Iran reportedly denied everything.

According to Iran’s Fars news agency, citing a source who wished to remain unnamed, there has been no communication – either directly or indirectly – with Donald Trump. The source claims Trump backed down after learning Iran was prepared to target power plants throughout Western Asia. Meanwhile, Bitcoin quickly lost around $1,200 in value from its recent peak.

According to CoinGlass, the market saw $415 million in liquidations over four hours following recent news. Of that amount, $280 million came from traders betting against the market (shorts), while $135 million came from those betting on it (longs). This nearly 2-to-1 difference indicates many traders were expecting prices to rise when the news broke.

Total liquidations reached significant levels, with Bitcoin leading at $140 million, followed by Ether at $120 million. Brent oil futures on Hyperliquid experienced $64 million in liquidations. Tokenized gold and silver also saw losses, amounting to $20.9 million and $19.8 million respectively.

Meanwhile, the oil liquidations were almost entirely one-sided.

A significant $64.4 million was lost on the XYZ:BRENTOIL contract on Hyperliquid, primarily affecting traders who bet that Trump’s 48-hour deadline would lead to an attack on Iran’s power plants. While these traders correctly predicted an escalation in tensions, they misjudged Trump’s next communication on Truth Social.

Bitcoin traded sideways between $67,500 and $68,500 during Asian trading hours. Following a post related to Donald Trump, the price quickly jumped $3,700 in an hour, but then dropped $1,200 after Iran issued a denial.

By Monday evening, it had reached $70,000, a 2.3% increase for the day. This price settled within a range established by a few hours of rapid changes caused by breaking news.

This recent market activity confirms a pattern we saw earlier this month in Binance futures data. When futures trading is five times more active than direct buying and selling, news events have a much bigger impact, leading to rapid and significant price swings. Initially, traders who bet against the market (shorts) are forced to cover their positions, driving prices up. But when negative news emerges, those betting on price increases (longs) are quickly caught off guard.

The net movement ends up modest, but the damage to leveraged traders is not.

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2026-03-23 16:11