Bitcoin has climbed to its highest level in nearly a month, sparking hundreds of millions of dollars in liquidations as optimism around a potential deal between the Trump administration and Iran boosted sentiment across the crypto market.
The total crypto market capitalization rose to $2.6 trillion—its highest in a month—while roughly $530 million in positions held by 177,000 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass.
Most of these liquidations occurred within the last 12 hours, with around 80%, or $425 million, coming from leveraged short positions in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
Meanwhile, crypto analyst “Bull Theory” said in a post on X that more than $300 million in crypto short positions were wiped out in just a few hours, helping drive over $100 billion in gains in total market capitalization.
“This isn’t a breakout—it’s a short squeeze running into overhead supply,” Valerius Labs said. “Genuine buying interest tends to appear above the 200-day simple moving average, not 15% below it.”
Bitcoin briefly touched a four-week high just under $75,000 on Coinbase during late Tuesday trading, according to TradingView, but was quickly rejected at a key resistance level. At the time of writing, it had pulled back to around $74,290.
Ether posted stronger gains, rising 7.5% on the day to reach $2,380—its highest level since early February.
The latest price surge appears to be largely driven by derivatives activity, though growing optimism around a potential US–Iran agreement—aimed at ending weeks of conflict that have weighed on global markets—may also be boosting investor appetite for riskier assets. Additional factors could include institutional inflows through spot crypto exchange-traded funds and Bitcoin purchases by centralized exchanges.
Traders eye potential Iran deal
Jeff Mei, chief operating officer at BTSE, told Cointelegraph that markets are rallying mainly because “traders believe the US and Iran are moving closer to a deal.”
Mei added that Iran’s economy relies heavily on oil exports, and any US move to block key shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz could significantly impact the country’s economic stability.
“Now, it appears that Iran is frantically looking to broker a deal, and stock and crypto markets are rallying as a response.”
A US military blockade began on Monday, with President Donald Trump warning that any Iranian vessels approaching the area would face immediate action.
“If any of these ships come anywhere close to our blockade, they will be immediately eliminated, using the same system we use against drug traffickers at sea,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
He also told reporters that while Iran is seeking a deal, his administration will not agree to any arrangement that permits Tehran to possess a nuclear weapon.
