Days of bearish positioning unraveled in about two hours on Tuesday night, as bitcoin surged above $72,700 after Trump confirmed a two-week ceasefire with Iran via Truth Social just before his 7 p.m. deadline. 20 A.M.
The move sparked $595 million in total crypto liquidations across 118,489 traders, according to CoinGlass data.
Short positions accounted for $427 million versus $168 million in longs, a ratio of more than 2.5 to 1, reflecting how heavily the market was positioned for further downside heading into the deadline.
The largest single liquidation was an $11.79 million BTC-USDT short on Binance. Bitcoin accounted for $245 million in total liquidations, ether followed with $126 million, and tokenized Brent oil futures on Hyperliquid added $33 million as crude collapsed more than 10%, with another $42 million in CL (WTI crude) contracts.
Oil, which has been among the best liquidating crypto assets throughout the war, turned to the other side of the deal as Brent fell to around $99 and WTI fell to around $95.
The 12-hour window was where the real damage was concentrated. Of the total $595 million, $508 million was liquidated in just 12 hours, with shorts taking $398 million of that, the most aggressive short squeeze since March 4, when bitcoin took off on the first round of truce speculation.
Solana’s SOL added $19.6 million in liquidations, ZEC saw $13.4 million, and XRP contributed smaller amounts along with a long tail of altcoins. Even tokenized silver and gold positions were caught in the slack as the commodity complex appreciated the removal of the war premium.
The ceasefire itself is conditional.
Trump called it a “double-sided ceasefire” and said the US had “already met and exceeded all military objectives”. Iran confirmed the suspension but stuck to the Strait of Hormuz, saying oil tankers could sail for two weeks “via coordination with Iran’s armed forces and due consideration of technical limitations.”
To give context to how extreme the positioning had become, the Fear and Greed Index sat at 8 on Sunday, continuing a streak of readings below 10 throughout the conflict. Elsewhere, Santiment data showed five bearish social media posts for every four bullish ones. Each sentiment and position indicator pointed in one direction. The truce pushed the market hard in the second.
Bitcoin’s move to $72,700 puts it at the top of the $65,000 to $73,000 range that has contained every rally and selloff since the war began.
Whether this breaks the range or becomes another headfake depends on what “two weeks” turns out to be.
