Crypto longs wiped $584M as ETH, BTC fall after Trump Iran alert

Crypto long positions lost $584.38 million over the past 24 hours as Bitcoin and Ethereum prices fell following comments from President Trump that signaled possible U.S. strikes on Iran. Total crypto liquidations reached $657.9 million in the period, data from Coinglass shows.

Coinglass reported about 106,371 accounts were liquidated in the 24-hour window. Long positions made up roughly 89% of the losses, while short positions accounted for $73.52 million. Ethereum long positions suffered the largest single-asset losses at $256.83 million. Bitcoin liquidations totaled $180.89 million, and together ETH and BTC represented about two-thirds of the day’s total liquidations.

The largest single reported order was an ETH/USDT perpetual contract on Bitget valued at $28.49 million. Perpetual contracts are derivative products that allow traders to hold leveraged positions without a set expiry date. Exchanges automatically close positions that fall below maintenance margin requirements, resulting in forced liquidations when losses exceed available margin.

Market value measures moved lower during the liquidation event. The total crypto market capitalization fell about 0.93% to approximately $2.65 trillion. Bitcoin slipped below $77,000 and was down about 5.59% for the week. Ethereum traded under $2,120 and declined nearly 10% on the week. Solana led weekly declines among major tokens, falling about 11.22% to trade near $84.94.

The liquidation wave occurred after President Trump indicated the U.S. might take military action against Iran and is expected to convene a Situation Room meeting on Tuesday to review options. Market participants assessing the situation anticipated higher geopolitical risk could increase trading volatility and pressure leveraged positions.

Exchanges use automatic liquidation to limit losses when a trader’s margin is exhausted. When many leveraged long positions are concentrated and prices move sharply downward, forced sell orders can occur in quick succession. The Monday totals underscore concentrated exposure to ETH and BTC in leveraged markets and the sensitivity of those positions to rapid price moves.