The crypto market took a battering Sunday morning as over $600 million in long positions were liquidated following U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Crypto liquidations topped $701 million according to CoinGlass data, of which the vast majority, $618.69 million, were long positions. The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies dipped to $3.25 trillion, down 4.4% on the day, per CoinGecko. ETH liquidations over the past 24 hours topped $296 million, of which $269 million were long positions, while Bitcoin accounted for $152 million in liquidations, of which $125 million were longs.
Of the top 20 cryptocurrencies, the brunt of the losses were borne by Ethereum, down 7.4% in the past 24 hours to $2,260, and Cardano, down 7.1%. Bitcoin held relatively steady, down 1.4% on the day to $102,418.
On decentralized prediction market platform Myriad, users turned bearish on Ethereum, with the “Moon to $3000 or dip to $2000” market shifting from near even odds to over 70% expecting the price of Ethereum to drop below $2,000 by the end of the year (Disclaimer: Myriad was launched by Decrypt‘s parent company DASTAN).
U.S. attacks Iranian nuclear facilities
In a post on the Truth Social platform Sunday morning, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had carried out “very successful” attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said in a follow-up address to the nation.
The raids saw B-2 bombers strike Iran’s fortified uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, while sites at Natanz and Isfahan were hit by submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles, according to U.S. Defense Department officials speaking to CBS News.
The attacks mark a a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, with Israeli officials stating that they were “in full co-ordination” with the U.S. in planning the operation.
In a subsequent post on Truth Social, Trump stated that, “ANY RETALIATION BY IRAN AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL BE MET WITH FORCE FAR GREATER THAN WHAT WAS WITNESSED TONIGHT.” Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warned of “everlasting consequences,” and stated that the country “reserves all options” to defend its national sovereignty.
On Polymarket, prediction markets put the odds of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz before July at 46%, up from lows of 9% the previous day, while the odds of it taking place by the end of the year hit 57%, up from lows of 31% the day before. However, predictors remained sanguine on the chances of the U.S. officially declaring war on Iran before July, putting the odds at just 2%.
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