Bitcoin Crashes Below $99K as U.S. Strikes Trigger Crypto Panic

​Bitcoin plunged below $99,000 over the weekend as U.S. military strikes on Iran set off a wave of fear in the crypto markets, triggering over $1 billion in liquidations in just 24 hours.

Traders had already grown cautious late last week, with inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs freezing as investors braced for President Trump’s response to escalating tensions. Once the strikes hit, the sell-off was swift and brutal. Most of the liquidations came from overleveraged long positions, especially across offshore exchanges like Binance and Bybit.

The impact wasn’t limited to bitcoin. Ether fell more than 10% at its worst, while altcoins like Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin also posted steep losses, wiping out billions in market value.

By late Sunday, prices began to stabilize, with bitcoin rebounding just below $101,000. But the damage was done: institutional appetite had evaporated, technical breakdowns deepened the rout, and the mood across crypto was rattled.

Driving the panic was not just geopolitics, but also fear of macro fallout. Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane that handles around 20% of the world’s oil supply. Some economists warn that if oil spikes to $130 a barrel, U.S. inflation could surge back to 5%—forcing the Fed to rethink any rate cuts.

That scenario has investors rotating out of risk assets like crypto. Despite being long touted as a hedge against inflation, bitcoin has once again shown it behaves more like a high-beta tech stock, with its correlation to the Nasdaq rising in recent weeks.

Bottom line: Bitcoin’s drop isn’t just about bombs—it’s about uncertainty. With institutional flows drying up, inflation fears resurfacing, and volatility spiking, crypto’s resilience is being put to the test in real time.