Digital assets slide following Hormuz strikes, triggering $897 million in long liquidations

Bitcoin fell to its lowest level since April 13 on Thursday, while ether dropped below $2,000, as U.S. airstrikes in the Strait of Hormuz triggered renewed inflation concerns and accelerated selling across risk assets.

BTC traded around $73,400, down roughly 1.2% on the day after briefly touching a multi-week low earlier in the session. Ether underperformed, slipping 1.5% and breaking below $2,000 for the first time since late March.

The sell-off followed a spike in oil prices after military strikes disrupted expectations for de-escalation in the region. Crude jumped from $92 to as high as $96 per barrel before settling near $94, reigniting inflation fears and weighing on global equities and crypto markets.

U.S. equity futures also turned lower, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts edging down as traders priced in a more cautious macro outlook heading into the U.S. trading session.

Derivatives markets saw a sharp repositioning, with total liquidations reaching $958.8 million over 24 hours. Long positions accounted for $897 million of the wipeout, highlighting a largely one-sided unwind of bullish leverage rather than a two-way liquidation event.

Bitcoin open interest remained broadly stable overall, but CME futures dropped 9.85% to $7.56 billion, signaling reduced exposure in regulated markets. Offshore perpetual futures held steady, while funding rates stayed near neutral, suggesting limited aggressive leverage chasing the downside move.

Ether futures told a different story, with open interest rising to a record 16.39 million ETH, or roughly $32.6 billion in notional value, even as price declined. The divergence points to increasing short positioning and continued speculative activity despite weakening spot demand.

XRP open interest edged lower alongside price weakness, suggesting position unwinding rather than fresh short buildup. Across major altcoins including SOL, funding rates turned negative on most venues, with shorts paying longs on exchanges such as Binance, indicating a broader tilt toward bearish positioning.

Options activity is also in focus ahead of roughly $8 billion in expiries on Deribit, including $6.5 billion in bitcoin and $1.4 billion in ether contracts. Bitcoin max pain sits near $75,000, just above spot, with notable open interest clustered at the $80,000 strike.

Despite heightened macro uncertainty, volatility remains subdued. Deribit’s DVOL index is near the lower end of its one-year range, while short-dated put-call skew shows elevated demand for downside protection, reflecting hedging activity rather than panic.

Broader crypto markets weakened in tandem, with the CoinDesk Computing Select Index falling nearly 3%. Thin liquidity in several altcoin pairs amplified volatility, producing sharp intraday moves and rapid reversals in select tokens.

Some assets saw outsized swings, including Humanity protocol (H), which briefly dropped more than 30% before rebounding sharply. AI tokens such as RENDER and FET, along with DeFi names like JUP and ETHFI, also posted notable declines.

Sentiment continues to deteriorate, with CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index sliding to its lowest level in over 90 days, reflecting a broad-based risk-off tone across digital assets.

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