Leading cryptocurrencies crashed on Tuesday as geopolitical uncertainty and Strategy Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:MSTR) sale of Bitcoin hammered sentiment.

Bitcoin nearly fell below $66,000, as the apex cryptocurrency’s decline triggered an aggressive sell-off across the broader market. Ethereum plunged to a nearly three-month low, while XRP and Dogecoin also posted sharp declines.

The drop accelerated after Strategy reported selling BTC worth $2.5 million, flipping from being Bitcoin’s largest hoarder to a seller. 

A whopping $1.78 billion was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours, with $1.59 billion in long positions erased, according to Coinglass data.

Bitcoin’s open interest dropped 3.22% over the last 24 hours. Curiously, Binance derivatives traders with open BTC positions were betting on the cryptocurrency’s increase.

Moreover, “Extreme Fear” sentiment deepened, according to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24 Hours) 

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.43 trillion, following a drop of 2.65% over the last 24 hours.

Stocks extended their record-breaking run on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 228.91 points, or 0.45%, to close at 51,307.7.The S&P 500 spiked 0.13% to close at 7,609.78, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite added 0.03% to end at 27,093.90. All three indexes ended the day at record highs.

The U.S. military said it conducted another wave of “self-defense strikes” on Iran’s Qeshm Island in response to Iranian strikes targeting Gulf countries in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social that talks with Iran have been “going on continuously” amid reports that Tehran stopped all negotiations due to Israel’s actions in Lebanon.

Widely followed cryptocurrency analyst and trader Ali Martinez said that the probability of Bitcoin’s downside acceleration “has increased substantially” toward $65,000, citing its drop below key support levels, including the 100-day simple moving average.

Blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant highlighted Bitcoin’s supply in loss at 40%, a threshold just below levels that have previously marked “deep bear market bottoms.”

“The current reading near 40% shows that stress is already meaningful, but not yet at the historical ‘maximum opportunity’ zone,” CryptoQuant said. 

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