Bitcoin Drops Below $80,000 After U.S.-Iran Exchange Of Fire Triggers $300 Million Liquidations

Bitcoin retreated below $80,000, with CoinDesk saying the move liquidated $300 million in futures bets after U.S. strikes in Iran sent oil briefly above $100 and triggered a broader risk-off move across crypto markets.

CoinDesk reported that traders unwound leverage aggressively, with futures open interest falling 1.5% and nearly $300 million in liquidations, alongside options flow shifting toward protective BTC puts.

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FinanceFeeds said Bitcoin traded as low as $79,694 before partially recovering toward the $80,900 range during late trading hours, extending a selloff tied to U.S.-Iran tensions.

FinanceFeeds also said Ethereum briefly fell below $2,300 while other major digital assets including Solana, XRP and Dogecoin posted losses as liquidations hit derivatives markets.

TradingKey framed the catalyst as a US-Iran exchange of fire that pushed Bitcoin briefly below $80,000 and drove over $344 million in liquidations, primarily affecting long positions.

FinanceFeeds said more than $331 million in bullish crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, including nearly $100 million within a two-hour window as Bitcoin broke below key technical support levels.

TradingKey put the liquidation figure higher, saying over the past 24 hours more than 110,000 traders were liquidated and total liquidations reached $344 million, with long liquidations accounting for $252 million, or 34%.

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CoinDesk reported that the crypto futures market cooled for the second-straight day, with cumulative industry notional open interest down over 1.5% at $131.5 billion and trading volume down over 12% at $191 billion.

FinanceFeeds said institutional demand through spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds remained resilient, citing U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF inflows of approximately $629 million on May 1, $532 million on May 4 and $467 million on May 5.

CoinDesk added that Bitcoin’s annualized 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, remained near 40%, described as the lowest since late January, as markets looked ahead to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.

CoinDesk said the market was already jittery after Strategy chairman Michael Saylor said that the company would consider selling bitcoin to cover dividend payments from its STRC, a u-turn from its previous "never sell" strategy.

CoinDesk reported that DeFi tokens outperformed as ONDO jumped over 8% after a cross-border U.S. Treasury redemption involving JPMorgan, Mastercard and Ripple, while the CoinDesk Memecoin Select Index (CDMEME) lost ground.

TradingKey described sentiment shifting from greed to fear, saying the sentiment index dropped from 62 to below neutral levels at 47, even as it suggested the US-Iran skirmish could be a minor episode in broader easing of tensions.

TradingKey also quoted U.S. President Trump: "Despite the strikes, the ceasefire agreement remains in effect," tying the geopolitical backdrop to the crypto selloff.

FinanceFeeds said strategists pointed to the $80,000-$82,000 range as a key technical support zone and said Bitcoin’s next directional move would likely depend on whether it could stabilize above the low-$80,000 range while maintaining continued spot demand from ETFs and institutional investors.