Longs Got Lt. Dan'd: $BTC Slides To $62K, $580M Wiped In Middle East Shockwave 🪖

Bitcoin fell to $62,601.58 on Thursday, a 4.87% intraday decline, as reports of fresh Israeli military strikes on southern Lebanon rattled global risk assets and pushed the broader crypto market into a broad selloff. The escalation came despite a Memorandum of Understanding recently agreed between the United States and Iran aimed at limiting regional hostilities. $ETH dropped more than 5% to $1,689, $BNB declined 4.90% to $576, $XRP fell 5.83% to $1.14, and $SOL lost 6.98% to $68.79, while Hyperliquid posted the steepest move among the top 10, sliding more than 11%.

The selloff triggered a cascade of leveraged liquidations across derivatives venues. According to CoinGlass data, $579.43 million in positions were liquidated over the prior 24 hours, with $496.62 million coming from longs and $82.81 million from shorts, and more than 139,000 traders forced out of their positions. A second data set cited total 24-hour liquidations at $599.69 million, including $496.27 million in longs, $103.42 million in shorts, and $267.62 million wiped in just the trailing four hours. $BTC led the wipeout with $191.49 million in liquidated positions, followed by $ETH at $135.46 million and HYPE at $17.79 million, with $XRP, $SOL, and $ADA also registering notable deleveraging.

Adding to the pressure, analysts pointed to a hawkish reading of the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate statement as a contributor to weakening risk appetite across digital assets. Separately, Strategy's preferred stock STRC, which carries an 11.5% annual dividend, fell to an all-time low of $85.32, trading roughly $14 below its $100 nominal value. In a recent 8-K filing, Strategy said its Bitcoin reserves are large enough to cover $1.7 billion in annual dividend and interest expenses for 32 years, adding that a 3.1% annual rise in $BTC's price would be sufficient to offset those obligations. The Federal Reserve's policy posture and any future path for Strategy's holdings remain factors that market participants are monitoring.