Trump Iran tweet, short squeezes and ETF flows lift crypto

Donald Trump’s May 20 tweet saying he would “end that war very quickly” with Iran coincided with $184.59 million in crypto short liquidations over 24 hours and a 0.65% rise in the total crypto market cap to $2.57 trillion. Bitcoin traded at $77,951 and Hyperliquid (HYPE) rose 17.7% to $56.26.

The largest share of liquidations hit BTC‑USDT positions, producing a short squeeze that pushed prices higher after recent declines that repeatedly tested the $2.50 trillion market‑cap level. Automated liquidations and trader activity were the primary mechanics behind the squeeze during the 24‑hour period.

Technical levels cited by market participants include $2.62 trillion as the 0.236 Fibonacci retracement of the recent leg. A daily close above $2.62 trillion would open the path toward $2.75 trillion and $2.81 trillion. If $2.50 trillion fails to hold, lower supports are identified at $2.47 trillion and $2.38 trillion.

Bitcoin moved away from the lower boundary of a rising channel that has held since March 29. BTC gained 0.61% to $77,951 as shorts were squeezed. The channel bottom sits at $75,962; a reclaim of $80,151, the 0.236 Fibonacci level, would require about a 2.8% gain and would target resistance at $82,742 and $84,837. A clean breakout is noted only above $86,931.

Hyperliquid led large‑token performance, rising 17.7% to $56.26. Grayscale‑linked wallets bought 510,387 HYPE, about $24.95 million, in recent days. Two new spot HYPE ETFs from 21Shares and Bitwise drew roughly $47.8 million in inflows during their first week. Grayscale filed an S‑1 registration for a HYPE ETF in January.

HYPE rallied roughly 50% from a May 14 swing low to a peak near $57.11 on shorter time frames. The price action formed the pole of a potential bull‑flag structure. For that pattern to remain valid, the token must hold above $54.70; a drop below $49.23 would invalidate the setup. Upside technical targets include $63.54, $72.39 and $77.86. The most recent eight‑hour candle showed a decline in trading volume.

Other filings and disclosures in the market included SpaceX’s S‑1 ahead of a planned June 12 Nasdaq IPO that values the company between $1.75 trillion and $2 trillion and shows 18,712 BTC on its balance sheet, about $1.29 billion at current prices. South Korea’s funeral services firm Bumo Sarang reported an unrealized $33 million loss after allocating about $40 million in customer prepayments into a 2x leveraged BitMine Ethereum ETF.

Market participants will monitor whether the short liquidations lead to a sustained recovery or a temporary rebound, with particular attention on the $2.62 trillion market‑cap level and Bitcoin’s channel support in the coming sessions.