Bitcoin declines to $68,000, creating a CME gap as traders anticipate a rebound to $70,000.

BTC retraced back into February’s trading range following Donald Trump’s warning of an impending strike on Iran’s power infrastructure, leading to a market selloff and a shift of investment focus towards commodities.

Bitcoin CME futures (TradingView)

What to know:

• Bitcoin dropped to $68,200 following a weekend selloff associated with the conflict in Iran, resulting in a CME gap near $70,000.
• Over $400 million worth of crypto futures liquidations impacted the markets, primarily affecting long positions, indicating a significant reduction in bullish leverage.
• While altcoins lagged behind BTC, privacy tokens and specific assets such as BCH and LINK exhibited signs of relative strength amid mixed market sentiment.

Bitcoin BTC$68,549.32 is currently trading around $68,250, reverting to a price range reminiscent of early February following several unsuccessful attempts to break through $75,000 decisively.

The latest selloff took place on Saturday, triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to "obliterate" Iran’s power facilities unless the nation reopened the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

The weekend’s market activity led to a CME gap — the variance between bitcoin’s price when futures conclude trading on Friday and when they recommence on Sunday evening. This gap would be addressed if bitcoin rebounds to $70,000 on Monday.

Gold and silver experienced further declines on Monday, with January’s record highs now appearing to be a result of speculative frenzy rather than a true safe-haven reaction.

Conversely, the Dollar Index (DXY) is trading above 100 again, supported by inflation concerns and a pause in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate reduction cycle.

Since midnight UTC, the altcoin market has underperformed bitcoin, with decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens ETHFI, HYPE, and SKY each dropping about 3%, while BTC remains in positive territory after its weekend decline.

Derivatives positioning

• In the last 24 hours, over $400 million in leveraged crypto futures positions have been liquidated, with more than $280 million in long positions, marking the largest liquidation since February 25 and indicating a significant impact on bullish positions due to bitcoin’s drop on Sunday.
• Open interest (OI) in futures linked to the gold token PAXG rose by 4% in the past day as investors withdrew funds from futures on major cryptocurrencies, including BTC. Ether’s OI increased by nearly 1%.
• On the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, Brent crude, WTI crude, gold, and silver perpetual contracts rank among the top 10 perpetual contracts by open interest, surpassing significant tokens like XRP. Volume data indicates a similar preference for traditional commodities.
• Funding rates illustrate a mixed view of market sentiment. Traders appear to be pursuing bearish positions in tokens such as XRP, BNB, SOL, TRX, DOGE, and ADA, as reflected by their negative funding rates. In contrast, funding rates for BTC, BCH, HYPe, XMR, and LINK remain positive, suggesting strong market sentiment.
• BCH and LINK also demonstrate a positive 24-hour cumulative volume delta. This, along with positive funding rates, indicates ongoing net buying pressure, with leveraged traders positioning for potential gains in both tokens.
• BTC’s 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, has increased to 60% from 53% on Wednesday, signaling renewed uncertainty and anxiety as the conflict in Iran continues and major banks predict a sustained rally in oil prices.
• Ether’s volatility index, EVIV, surged to 84% on Sunday, marking the highest level since early February.
• On Deribit, BTC put options are trading at a premium of eight volatility points compared to call options expiring at the end of June. This suggests a strong interest in hedging against possible price declines.
• Block flows reveal heightened demand for BTC put spreads, indicating a bearish strategy, alongside ETH straddles, which bet on volatility.

Token talk

• CoinDesk’s DeFi Select Index (DFX) is the poorest performing benchmark on Monday, declining 0.75% since midnight UTC, while the CDMEME and SCPXC indexes are down approximately 0.4%
• Privacy tokens have defied the bearish trend, with DASH, NIGHT, and XMR all gaining between 3% to 5% in the last 24 hours. The sector performed favorably toward the end of 2025, supported by improved sentiment surrounding anonymous transactions and enhanced regulatory clarity.
• CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” index stands at 49/100, down slightly from last week’s peak of 53, yet significantly higher than last month’s low of 22.
• One reason for cautious optimism is the average relative strength index (RSI), which is currently in “oversold” territory, indicating that a rebound for several altcoins could be anticipated this week.