Bitcoin climbed back to roughly $66,500 following a turbulent weekend that saw geopolitical tensions around Iran spark about $300 million in forced liquidations across crypto markets. Even as oil prices surged and equity futures declined, parts of the DeFi segment showed relative strength.

The largest cryptocurrency has gained 1.1% since midnight UTC and is up more than 5% from its weekend low near $63,000. Despite sharp intraday swings last week — with prices testing $70,000 on the upside and $62,500 on the downside — bitcoin continues to trade within the broader consolidation range that has held since early February.

The volatility followed military strikes that reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliatory action and raising concerns about potential disruptions to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil and LNG shipments.

According to trading firm QCP, the initial shock resulted in roughly $300 million in long liquidations. However, the extent of forced selling was relatively limited, suggesting that market participants had already adjusted positioning ahead of the weekend escalation.

Traditional markets reacted swiftly. Gold and silver rose to their highest levels in over a month, while crude oil jumped 13% to $82 per barrel — the strongest level since July 2024. U.S. equity index futures turned lower, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts down 1.1% and 1.5%, respectively, since midnight UTC.

Most of the crypto sell-off occurred on Saturday while U.S. markets were closed, indicating that digital assets absorbed much of the initial shock before traditional investors returned.

Derivatives overview

Market structure remains relatively stable. Total crypto futures open interest has declined 2% to $93.78 billion, still above the recent low of $92.40 billion.

More than $300 million in leveraged positions were liquidated over a 24-hour period, predominantly bullish bets. Perpetual funding rates for bitcoin and ether have edged slightly negative, pointing to a mild bearish bias rather than outright capitulation.

Volatility gauges tell a similar story. Bitcoin’s 30-day annualized implied volatility index (BVIV) is steady around 58.8%, comfortably within last week’s range. Ether’s volatility index shows comparable stability.

On Deribit, short-dated bitcoin puts traded at an 8%–10% implied volatility premium over calls, reflecting elevated demand for downside protection. The $60,000 put remains the most actively traded contract, and block flows show interest in put spread strategies.

Token performance

Altcoins generally tracked bitcoin’s weekend decline and rebound, though certain DeFi tokens outperformed. Lending protocol token MORPHO extended its two-week rally, rising 5% over the past 24 hours and 2.6% since midnight UTC.

Other decentralized finance tokens — including JUP, AAVE and LDO — also posted gains, signaling that speculative appetite has not fully dissipated despite a broader shift toward traditional haven assets.

Hyperliquid’s HYPE token surged more than 29% on Saturday, breaking its February downtrend. Although it slipped 3.8% on Monday, it continues to trade above the key $30 support level.

In contrast, WLFI — the DeFi token associated with U.S. President Donald Trump’s family — extended its decline, falling 2.5% since midnight and more than 44% from mid-January highs amid a pattern of lower highs and lower lows.

Among CoinDesk’s sector indices, the DeFi Select (DFX) Index was the only benchmark in positive territory over the past 24 hours. The Computing Select Index (CPUS) and the Smart Contract Platform Select Capped Index (SCPXC) were the weakest performers, down 1.87% and 1.71%, respectively.