Bitcoin gave up last week’s gains over the weekend.
The largest cryptocurrency fell to $69,192 on Sunday morning, down 2.2% in the past 24 hours and down 3.1% for the week, after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on the country’s power plants.
Trump said he would “hit and destroy” Iran’s power plants, starting with the largest ones, if the strait was not opened to commercial shipping.
The threat marks a sharp escalation from Friday, when Trump said he was considering “winding down” the military campaign. The move from gradual easing to threatening civilian infrastructure in the space of 24 hours took a heavy toll on markets that had spent the last week building confidence around an easing of the situation.
Liquidation data shows how one-sided the positioning picture was over the weekend. CoinGlass data shows that the total liquidation amount among 84,239 traders in the past 24 hours was US$299 million, of which long liquidation amounted to US$254 million, accounting for approximately 85% of the total.
Bitcoin bulls lost $122 million. Ethereum bulls lost $95.7 million. The largest single liquidation was a $10 million BTC-USDT swap on OKX. This lopsided ratio confirms that the market is seriously bullish after eight consecutive days of gains over the weekend, making it vulnerable to such an overall shock.
Meanwhile, major coins have fallen. Ethereum fell 1.8% to $2,114, XRP fell 2.5% to $1.41, BNB fell 1.4% to $633, solana fell 2.1% to $88.55, and Dogecoin fell 2.7% to $0.092. The only major currencies in the green this week are Ethereum (0.8%) and Solana (0.7%). Everything else is red within 7 days.
The 48-hour window means the deadline is Monday evening. If Iran does not comply (and there are no signs that it will), markets are faced with the prospect of attacks on power infrastructure, which would be the first direct targeting of civilian energy systems in the conflict.
The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to most commercial traffic, and approximately 20% of the world’s oil and gas flows remain disrupted.
Last week’s rise to $75,912 now appears to be based on ceasefire speculation, which faded over the weekend. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady on Wednesday with a dovish tilt that should have supported risk assets, but the continued risk of war headlines deterred traders from making large directional bets.