SOL, XRP, DOGE Lead Altcoin Recovery After $1B Weekend Liquidation

Crypto traders are in a rebound mode after the panic selling over the weekend, triggered by U.S. military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, forced massive liquidations.

Solana SOL$133.08, XRP XRP$2.0261, and Dogecoin DOGE$0.1389, which were hardest-hit among the altcoins, are showing signs of recovery as leveraged bets reset and spot buying returns.

Liquidations pause as market resets

Over the last 24 hours, crypto markets absorbed another $642 million in liquidations, adding to the $595 million flushed on Saturday, bringing the two-day tally to over $1.2 billion.

Bitcoin BTC$89,682.35 led the bleeding, with $230 million in liquidated bets, followed by ether ETH$3,034.52 at $188 million in long liquidations. While, SOL saw $28 million in liquidations, XRP took $21 million, and DOGE over $25 million.

Liquidation refers to when an exchange forcefully closes a trader’s leveraged position due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin. It happens when a trader is unable to meet the margin requirements for a leveraged position (fails to have sufficient funds to keep the trade open).

A cascade of liquidations often indicates market extremes, where a price reversal could be imminent as market sentiment overshoots in one direction. The sell-offs began late Saturday after former U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed coordinated strikes on Iran’s key uranium enrichment sites.

However, by Monday, the worst appeared to be over. Bitcoin clawed back to $101,237. Ether hovered near $2,236, SOL edged up to $133. While, XRP traded above $2, and DOGE hovered just around 15 cents.

Losses persisted on the daily chart, but the bounce suggested dip buyers were stepping in fast. Analysts say institutional flows and growing use cases are helping some tokens snap back faster than others.

Altcoins display resilience

“While Bitcoin's volatility has been the focus after the U.S.-Iran escalation, the altcoin market is showing signs of divergent strength,” said Eugene Cheung, Chief Commercial Officer at OSL, said in a Telegram message.

“Ethereum continues to attract institutional interest amid growing ETF inflows, while Solana and other Layer 1 tokens benefit from improving network activity, developer adoption, and ETF approval speculation,” Cheung added.

Others say the market’s quick rebound reflects a broader belief that the geopolitical fallout will remain localized, with limited macro spillover.

“The market is fairly optimistic that the Iran-Israeli conflict will remain muted and its economic impact will be locally contained,” said Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE, said.

“We expect that Iran has to engage in some retaliatory measures to maintain its regime's legitimacy, but such measures will be limited to avoid pulling all parties into a protracted conflict,” Mei added.

Still, risks remain. The U.S. hinted at “far greater” military responses if Iran retaliates, and any disruption to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz could shake broader markets.

But the speed of recovery suggests crypto remains in a macro uptrend, and liquidations, can be viewed as entry points.

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