Trump's Tough Stance on Iran Triggers Risk Asset Sell-Off, Bitcoin Falls Below $77,000

BlockBeats News, May 18th. Influenced by U.S. President Trump's tough stance on Iran, the crypto market and global risk assets collectively weakened. Trump stated that Iran has "little time left" and that they should "act quickly, otherwise they will have nothing," which drove Brent crude oil to briefly exceed $112 per barrel.

Bitcoin fell by about 2.4% to $76,500, hitting a new low since April 30th; Ethereum dropped by about 3.5% to $2,116, almost erasing all gains since April. U.S. stock futures were under pressure as well, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 index futures falling by 0.3% and 0.25% respectively.

Derivatives market data showed that the total market trading volume of contracts surged by 65% to $159 billion in the past 24 hours, but the open interest (OI) dropped by 1.48% to $125 billion. The liquidation amount skyrocketed by 500% to $677 million, indicating that the market is undergoing a large-scale deleveraging rather than new directional bets.

Altcoins performed significantly weaker than major coins, with BCH dropping by 10% and DOGE falling by 4.5%. The CoinDesk Meme Index fell by 2.2%, becoming one of the worst-performing sectors.

In particular, BCH showed clear signs of a "crowded short" scenario: OI grew by 13% to 1.47 million coins, and the perpetual contract funding rate dropped to an annualized -72%, the most negative level among major coins. This indicates the existence of aggressive short selling sentiment in the market, and a reversal of sentiment could trigger a sharp short squeeze.

On the other hand, ZEC showed relatively strong performance, with OI increasing for the third consecutive day and surpassing 2 million coins. The 24-hour active buying data ranked among the top in major coins, and the funding rate was only about 4%, not yet entering the overheated zone. ZEC has risen by 111% this quarter, and the market believes that if the overall environment stabilizes, there is still room for further upside.

In addition, tokens such as HYPE, CRO, and TON saw an increase in open interest contracts. Apart from ZEC, TON, and HYPE, most of the other top 25 tokens recorded negative Coin Days Destroyed (CDD), indicating that the market overall is still dominated by active selling pressure.

In terms of volatility, the Bitcoin 30-day implied volatility index (BVIV) has risen from 40% to 42% since May 9th; the U.S. Treasury bond volatility index MOVE soared by 14% last Friday, marking the largest single-day increase since March 26th. The market is concerned that rising global financial pressure may further elevate crypto market panic.