Bitcoin Drops Below $63K as Iran-US Hormuz Strikes Trigger $253M

Bitcoin slipped below $63,100 on Monday, down roughly 1% from its weekly close above $64,300, as a fresh round of Iran-US airstrikes over the Strait of Hormuz and broad profit-taking erased the prior session's gains. The pullback carried through Asia and Europe before US opening bells, with the Kospi dropping 9.2%, SK Hynix off 15%, and both the Nikkei and Shanghai SSE losing more than 2%. Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures pointed to a softer open, down 0.9% and 0.25% respectively.

Coinglass data shows $253 million in 24-hour liquidations skewed 76-24 toward longs, with BTC ($70M) and ETH ($60M) absorbing the heaviest notional damage. Lighter (LIT) led the altcoin leg lower, sliding 8% in its first significant pullback after a two-month rally of more than 200%, while Hyperliquid (HYPE) gave up another 3.3% to $65.10, its lowest point since July 2.

Why it matters

The selloff is unfolding against an unusually fragile macro backdrop: reignited US-Iran hostilities in one of the world's most critical oil shipping lanes, an 18% single-day move in SK Hynix after its US listing debut, and a third consecutive quarterly loss for digital assets in Q2 2026 that pushed institutional capital toward AI equities and triggered the largest quarterly Bitcoin ETF outflow since launch. That confluence is the kind of cross-asset risk-off that historically pressures leveraged crypto positioning the hardest, particularly in altcoins with thinner books.

The derivatives tape, though, looks more orderly than the price action suggests. BTC open interest held flat at $17 billion, the three-month annualized basis stayed firm at 3.8%, and funding rates remained slightly positive across most venues, with Bybit a notable exception at roughly -13% annualized. Options traders tilted bullish: the 24-hour put/call ratio sat at 64/36 in favor of calls, and the one-week delta skew narrowed from 26% to 16% over the past week, evidence that call demand is easing rather than building into the dip.