Iran escalation and $171 million in ETF outflows drive BTC below $66,000.
Bitcoin fell to its lowest level in more than two weeks on Friday, dropping below $66,000 as a $14 billion options expiry collided with escalating Middle East tensions and a broader risk-off rout across global markets.
BTC was trading near $65,900 at press time, down roughly 4.5% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Ether slipped to $1,983, also off 4%, while Solana tumbled 5.5% to $83. The total crypto market cap fell 3.4% to $2.36 trillion.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index sits at 13, deep in “Extreme Fear” territory
Nearly $443 million in long positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, compared with just $58 million in shorts, according to Coinglass, suggesting traders had been positioned for a rally that has not materialized as the U.S.-Iran conflict entered its 28th day.
Almost all of the Top 100 digital assets posted losses over the last 24 hours.
Ondo Finance bucked the bearish trend, rising more than 8% over 24 hours — though it gave back most of its gains by midday — after announcing a partnership with Franklin Templeton to tokenize five ETFs across growth, large-cap, fixed income, equity income, and gold strategies through Ondo Global Markets.
Worldcoin (WLD) and MORPHO are today’s biggest losers, plunging 10% and 8%, respectively.
Macro Pressure Mounts
The selloff extended across traditional markets. The Nasdaq 100 fell to 23,300, now 10% below its January high. Oil topped $96 per barrel as diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the Iran conflict stalled, fueling inflation fears and pushing back expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts.
The CME FedWatch tool shows a 96% probability that the Fed will hold rates steady at its next meeting, with 4% of the market now pricing in a 25-basis-point hike, a scenario that was virtually unthinkable a month ago.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net outflow of $171 million in a single day, the largest in three weeks, per CoinGlass data. Institutional demand has cooled notably since the Fed’s hawkish March rate decision, with recent days showing mixed, low-conviction flows.