Bitcoin dropped below $69,000 on Sunday after US President Donald Trump gave Iran 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants. The warning unsettled financial markets and pushed crypto prices lower. Traders moved quickly to reduce risk as weekend sentiment turned negative.
The decline erased most of Bitcoin’s gains from the previous week. Market momentum had improved after the Federal Reserve signaled a softer policy stance, but fresh war concerns outweighed that support. As a result, digital assets retreated across the board.
The sell-off also exposed how heavily traders had leaned toward further upside. Once prices turned lower, leveraged positions began to unwind at speed. That added more pressure to an already weak market.
Bitcoin price had climbed near $75,000 earlier in the week as traders responded to hopes of easing tensions and support from the Fed’s latest rate decision. That advance lost strength over the weekend after Trump shifted from talk of winding down operations to threatening energy infrastructure in Iran. The sudden change altered the market mood within hours.
By Sunday morning, Bitcoin had fallen to around $68,800. The retreat left the asset down 2.5% over 24 hours and 4.1% over the week.
The move showed how quickly crypto can react when geopolitical risks rise. The deadline now turns attention to Monday evening. If Iran does not act, traders could face another sharp move tied to possible strikes on civilian power systems. That prospect has kept risk appetite low even after recent monetary policy support.
The downturn triggered heavy liquidations across crypto derivatives. Around $330 million in positions were wiped out over 24 hours, affecting more than 101,000 traders. Long positions made up about 85% of the losses, showing how strongly the market had tilted toward bullish bets.
Bitcoin long positions accounted for about $114 million in losses. Ether longs lost roughly $84.7 million. The largest single wipeout was a $10 million BTC-USDT swap on OKX, which showed the extent of the forced selling once prices slipped.
This sharp imbalance reflected the buildup from the previous eight days, when prices had risen steadily and encouraged traders to add leverage. When the headline shock arrived, that positioning turned into a weakness. The result was a fast and broad unwind.
Major tokens also moved lower as the market fell in tandem. Ether dropped 1.8% to about $2,114, XRP lost 2.5% to $1.41, BNB slipped 1.4% to $633, Solana fell 2.1% to $88.55, and Dogecoin declined 2.7% to $0.092. Only Ether and Solana remained slightly positive on a weekly basis.
Options activity showed that traders were still seeking downside protection. Demand for put options at Deribit was about 2.5 times larger than demand for call options. The 30-day delta skew stood at 16%, showing that professional traders were not fully confident Bitcoin would hold the current range.
Spot Bitcoin ETF flows also turned negative, though the numbers remained limited. US-listed spot BTC funds saw $254 million in net outflows over two days. The outflows also contributed to the cautious tone as oil prices stayed high and Middle East tensions deepened.