Bitcoin BTC dropped below $80,000 late Thursday after the U.S. launched fresh airstrikes in Iran, sending brent crude briefly above $100 per barrel. The move triggered a risk-off wave across crypto, wiping out nearly $300 million in leveraged futures bets over 24 hours.
The industry notional open interest dropped 1.5% to $131.5 billion, with longs accounting for most of the liquidations. On Deribit, option flow shifted bearish with rising demand for put strikes at $80,000, $75,000, and $60,000.
Despite the broad sell-off, the DeFi sector outperformed. Ondo Finance (ONDO) rallied over 8% after completing the first cross-border, cross-bank U.S. Treasury redemption with JPMorgan, Mastercard, and Ripple. The CoinDesk DeFi Select Index surged 3%.