Crypto Market Crash: 5 Reasons Why BTC, ETH, XRP, Altcoins Price Fell Today

The crypto market saw a major crash on Friday on the back of various factors, including geopolitical tensions, macro events, renewed Trump tariffs, Friday’s options expiry, and liquidation of leveraged positions. Bitcoin price fell to an intraday low of $102K, dropping more than 7% in two days. Also, Ethereum and XRP prices tumbled 10% and 7% over the last 24 hours.

Israel Airstrikes Iran as Tensions Escalate

The crypto market crash happened after Israel launched a preemptive strike against Iran, significantly heightening fears of broader conflict in the Middle East. The White House released a statement clarifying that the US played no part in Israel’s decision to strike Iran.

Oil and gold prices rally as tensions rise in the Middle East. Notably, JPMorgan warned that striking Iran could drive oil prices higher to $120 per barrel, pushing CPI inflation in the United States back to 5% from a recent 2.4% print.

Renewed Tariff Plans by President Donald Trump

Safe-haven demand for gold was further boosted by growing uncertainty over US trade policy. President Donald Trump plans to impose unilateral tariffs to pressure trading partners, though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested the current 90-day tariff pause could be extended.

The hype surrounding the latest trade tariff deal between the U.S. and China faded, resulting in uncertainty continuing in global markets. Meanwhile, President Trump continued to call for a 100 bps Fed rate cut, sparking discussions in the crypto market.

$3.7 Billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum Options Expiry

Over $3.7 billion in crypto options are set to expire on Deribit today. The crypto market often faces crash possibilities on options expiry due to high volatility. A mix of geopolitical and macro factors, supported by the options expiry, pushed traders to liquidate or change their positions.

28K BTC options with a notional value of more than $3 billion are set to expire on Friday on Deribit. At the time of writing, the put-call ratio was 0.95, suggesting a slightly bearish sentiment among traders. Notably, the max pain point is at $107,000, indicating a high chance of further retracement in BTC price.

Bitcoin Options Open Interest. Source: Deribit

In contrast, 242K ETH options with a notional value of almost $0.7 billion are set to expire, with a put-call ratio of 1.20. Also, the max pain point was $2,700 at the time of writing. Sentiment has turned bearish for Ethereum, as evidenced by the put-call ratio and max pain data.

The crypto market turned extremely bullish on Ethereum’s price surpassing $3000, resulting in profit booking by some investors. The interest appeared to drop continuously, with traders having to monitor significant fluctuations in the trading volumes amid rising uncertainty.

Ethereum Options Open Interest. Source: Deribit

Crypto Market Liquidation Crosses $1.2 Billion

Crypto liquidations crossed over $1.2 billion in the last 24 hours, with $930 million in long positions liquidated within just 12 hours, as per  CoinGlass data . Over 247K traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with the largest single liquidation order of BTCUSDT valued at $201.31 million on crypto exchange Binance.

Notably, more than $1.1 billion in long and $100 million in short positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours, causing a crypto market crash. Bitcoin saw almost $445 million in liquidations, one of the highest ever recorded.

Whales Liquidate as BTC, ETH, and XRP Break Below Key Support

BTC price has slightly rebounded from a 5% fall earlier, with the price currently trading at $104,358. The 24-hour low and high were $102,822 and $108,439, respectively. As warned earlier by The Coin Republic, Bitcoin price fall was expected due to a “bull trap” from high-leverage traders.

Whales liquidated their holdings as BTC lost the $106K key support level as well as the June open level. Massive liquidations worth millions were recorded by on-chain platforms.

ETH price also lost a key support level at $2,650. The price tumbled 10% in the last 24 hours, with a 24-hour low and high of $2,443 and $2,775, respectively.

Furthermore, XRP bulls also failed to hold the price above $2.20, despite a joint filing by Ripple and the US SEC to settle the lawsuit . XRP price is currently trading at $2.12, risking a fall below $2.