Iran Strike Fears Spark Bitcoin Volatility as $250M Derivatives Liquidations Rock Market

Bitcoin staged a rapid recovery on Saturday after an initial plunge sparked by reports of U.S. military strikes on Iran, ultimately returning to positive territory as market sentiment stabilized.

The cryptocurrency dropped to an intraday low near $63,176 during the early wave of risk aversion but later climbed above $67,000, highlighting how quickly traders moved to reprice the geopolitical shock.

By late afternoon, Bitcoin was still holding most of those gains, trading at around the mid-$66,000 range.

Nearly $250 million in Bitcoin derivatives trades were liquidated during the sell-off, with long positions accounting for about $124.8 million of those losses and the remainder coming from short liquidations as prices rebounded.