Leading cryptocurrencies fell sharply overnight on Monday after the military said it carried out “defensive” strikes in southern Iran.
Major Cryptos Sink
Bitcoin dived sharply to $76.500 overnight, triggering similar declines in Ethereum and the broader cryptocurrency market.
Nearly $200 million was liquidated in the past 24 hours, with long position traders suffering more losses, according to Coinglass data.
Bitcoin’s open interest dipped 0.47% over the last 24 hours, broadly aligning with the drop in spot price. Retail and whale derivatives traders on Binance, meanwhile, remained “Neutral” on the leading cryptocurrency.
“Fear” sentiment persisted in the market, according to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.
Top Gainers (24 Hours)
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.56 trillion, following a contraction of 0.35% over the last 24 hours.
Stocks Futures Rally
Stock futures traded in the green Monday evening. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures rallied 317 points, or 0.63%, as of 8:46 p.m. EDT. Futures tied to the S&P 500 spiked 0.64%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 0.87%.
The rally came even as the U.S. military carried out what it described as “defensive” strikes in southern Iran against missile launch sites and boats attempting to lay mines.
The stock markets will open on Tuesday, following the Memorial Day holiday on Monday.
Speculative Noise Leaving BTC Ecosystem?
Widely followed cryptocurrency analyst and trader Ali Martinez noted a sharp dip in Bitcoin’s network activity, with active addresses plunging nearly 40% in just two weeks.
“When network activity thins out like this during a price consolidation, it typically tells us that short-term speculative noise is leaving the ecosystem,” Martinez stated, adding that supply is back in the hands of long-term, high-conviction investors.
On-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant also highlighted a “gradual” contraction in Bitcoin’s Apparent Demand— the difference between new BTC issuance and the amount of supply that has remained inactive for more than one year.
“Without a meaningful recovery in spot demand, it becomes difficult to imagine Bitcoin sustaining a durable rally purely through the momentum driven by futures markets,” CryptoQuant stated.
However, such periods have historically created “interesting opportunities” for long term investors capable of remaining patient, the blockchain research firm added.
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