The cryptocurrency market slumped to its lowest levels in two weeks as Bitcoin slid below $67,000 and Ether hovered near $2,000. The CoinDesk 20 Index fell by 2.2% over the past 24 hours, hitting its lowest mark since early March. This sharp decline coincided with escalated volatility and broader risk aversion in the global financial markets.
Geopolitical Fears and Shifting Market Dynamics
The recent downturn in crypto assets unfolded in parallel with declining U.S. stock indices. Futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 retreated by 10% from their annual peak, trading around the 23,760 level. Concerns about persistent geopolitical tensions, especially the protracted conflict in Iran, intensified global risk-off sentiment. Meanwhile, crude oil prices held above $100 a barrel, reinforcing inflationary worries that continue to unsettle markets around the world.
Altcoins Suffer Steeper Losses Amid Uncertainty
Market turbulence was more pronounced among altcoins. ETHFI led decliners with a 6% drop, while tokens such as WLD, WIF, SEI, and FET shed between 3.6% and 4.7%. XRP also tumbled 2.5% within the day, but open interest in XRP futures climbed by 2%, reaching 1.95 billion units. The shifting positions in the futures market signaled that traders are increasingly betting against price recovery, turning to short-selling strategies in the face of the downtrend.
Liquidations have piled up in crypto derivatives, particularly hitting bullish long positions. Roughly $300 million worth of longs were closed in the past 24 hours, while short liquidations were limited to $50 million. It was the fifth major wave of long liquidations in the last ten days, with earlier hopes that Iranian conflict would trigger a price rally ultimately failing to materialize.
Bitcoin, Solana, Dogecoin, and BNB-linked futures echoed the bearish tone seen in XRP. Both trading volumes and negative funding rates revealed that market participants are moving to reduce exposure as prices fall. Notably, traders were observed trimming positions in SHIB, which registered the highest negative open interest-adjusted volume. In contrast, the Canton Network’s CC token saw positive funding rates and growing open futures, indicating stronger bullish expectations among some investors.
Although Bitcoin and Ether’s 30-day implied volatility indexes continued to decline, this did not trigger a panic sell-off among investors. The muted volatility suggested participants were not bracing for an imminent, large-scale wave of selling. Meanwhile, over $15 billion worth of Bitcoin options expired on the Deribit exchange early Friday. The expiration of these contracts marked a shift from previous expectations that prices would remain near $75,000, potentially opening the door to deeper market corrections under new macroeconomic realities.
Market observers noted that put options for Bitcoin and Ether are trading at premiums of 6 to 8 basis points over call options, indicating that investors are boosting their downside protection as bearish sentiment rises.
The altcoin market’s weak liquidity made it difficult for many tokens to hold significant support levels. The CoinDesk Computing Select Index slid 2.3% during the session, while the Bitcoin-focused CoinDesk 20 Index fell by 1.2%. These losses further underscored the vulnerability of less liquid digital assets amid ongoing uncertainty and market pressure.
Amid a largely negative environment, ONDO stood out as a rare outperformer during the day. Ondo Finance, an asset management platform, revealed plans to transition five Franklin Templeton exchange-traded funds onto its blockchain-based ONDO chain. The announcement propelled ONDO token’s price more than 8% higher within 24 hours, though some of those gains were later pared back as trading progressed.
Elsewhere, the average relative strength index (RSI) for all cryptocurrencies remained in neutral territory. With no clear signal of strong buying or selling momentum, the technical indicator suggested the market could be susceptible to further near-term losses if current dynamics persist.
