[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] News of a two-week truce between the United States and Iran sent bitcoin (BTC) and the oil market sharply in opposite directions.

According to blockchain media outlet CoinDesk on April 8, bitcoin rose above $72,700 immediately after U.S. President Donald Trump declared a truce. About $595 million in forced liquidations occurred in the process. Liquidations were concentrated over about 2 hours, with short positions at $427 million far exceeding long positions at $168 million. With the market positioned for a decline, the truce news drove prices sharply higher in the opposite direction, triggering a "short squeeze".

Liquidations were concentrated over a short period. Of the total, about $508 million occurred in the past 12 hours, including $398 million in short positions. It was tallied as the strongest short squeeze since early March. More than 118,000 traders were liquidated, and the single largest liquidation was a Binance BTC-USDT short position worth about $11.79 million.

By asset, bitcoin accounted for the largest share at $245 million, followed by ether (ETH) at $126 million. Liquidations of tens of millions of dollars also occurred in tokenised futures linked to Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude.

A sharp drop in oil prices also contributed to the liquidations. Crude, which had faced upward pressure throughout the war, fell sharply as expectations of a truce were priced in. Brent fell to around $99 and WTI to around $95, sliding more than 10 percent. That triggered a chain of liquidations in energy-related positions and in safe-haven tokens such as gold and silver.

Market sentiment had already tilted extremely to one side. The Fear and Greed Index fell to 8 as of April 6 and stayed below 10 throughout the conflict period. Santiment data also showed bearish posts on social media outnumbered bullish posts by 5 to 4. With both sentiment and positioning indicators pointing lower, the truce announcement flipped positions all at once. An analysis said that resulted in large-scale liquidations and a simultaneous price surge.

The truce is not fully confirmed. Trump declared a "truce by both sides", but Iran left conditions in place over the issue of passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

The rebound brought bitcoin back near the top of a $65,000 to $73,000 range that had contained all sharp swings since the war began. The market is now focused on whether the two-week truce will hold and whether the rebound will lead to a breakout from the range.