- Israeli airstrikes on Iran trigger $1.14B in crypto liquidations and market-wide risk sell-off.
- Over 91% of long positions were liquidated, as BTC dropped over 2% and ETH fell 4.4%.
- Asian markets slid as Japan, India, and South Korea led losses amid geopolitical tensions.
Explosions echoed through Tehran on Friday morning, prompting global markets to react. Reports confirmed that Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities. The escalation comes as Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a special emergency.
Katz said the strikes were preemptive, anticipating a response from Iran. He warned of possible missile and drone retaliation. The heightened tensions have fueled increased volatility across multiple asset classes, including crypto.
Bitcoin quickly dropped 2% within the first hour of the strikes. Ethereum sank even further, losing 4.4% in the same period. By mid-morning in Singapore, Bitcoin dipped below $103,000 before slightly recovering.
Coinglass reported over $1.4 billion in crypto liquidations within 24 hours. Long positions accounted for 91.2% of the losses. The largest single liquidation occurred on Binance, with $201.3 million wiped from a BTCUSDT long position. Over 246,000 traders were liquidated during the chaos, marking one of the sharpest one-day drops in recent months.
Ethereum, which had shown strength earlier this week, dropped by nearly 8.6% at one point. Other altcoins followed the downtrend, amplifying the total losses in the altcoin sector. Amid the sell-off, trading activity surged as users scrambled to adjust their positions.
The sudden downturn caught many traders off guard, especially those holding highly leveraged long positions. As prices fell and collateral values dropped, exchanges began auto-liquidating these positions, intensifying the sell-off and compounding market losses.
According to CoinGlass data, the selloff was not isolated. It stretched across multiple exchanges and trading pairs. The increase in volume was also an indication of panic selling amid news headlines. Heightened volatility is likely to persist in the near term.
Related: $983M Crypto Liquidation Sparks Market Panic and Volatility
On the other hand, traditional stock markets across Asia also felt the shock. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.12% while the Topix slipped 0.96%. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.98%. The smaller Kosdaq index fell further, shedding 2.91% during the session. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.23%, staying relatively stable compared to sharper regional losses.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.72%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 also declined 0.72%, matching the regional mood. India’s stock market Nifty 50 dropped 1.01%, while the BSE Sensex lost 1.42% amid rising risk aversion.
So far, Iran has not issued any official response that would escalate the conflict. However, analysts are watching for retaliation that could influence global markets again.
