New Delhi, May 18 (IANS) Bitcoin slid to its weakest level in May on Monday over escalating macroeconomic concerns tied to the US‑Iran conflict, causing overall crypto market weakness.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to $76,711 before it recovered some losses to trade at $76,985.11 as of 2.25 pm. Major digital assets such as Ether and Solana also traded lower.

Nearly $500 million of long positions were liquidated within about 15 minutes during early Asian trading hours, according to multiple reports.

US‑listed spot Bitcoin exchange‑traded funds saw over $1 billion in outflows last week, the first such occurrence since late January, traders said.

Surge in oil prices and bond yields led to Asian equities trading lower and traders fleeing riskier assets.

Amid continued uncertainty over reopening the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump warned that the “clock is ticking” for Iran to reach an agreement, adding to market jitters and weighing on sentiment for speculative assets.

Crude prices jumped around 3 per cent on Monday as hopes for a peace agreement weakened.

International oil benchmark Brent crude rose as much as 2.37 per cent or $2.60 to $111.86 per barrel after a fresh wave of drone strikes targeted the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Markets are closely watching whether BTC can sustain momentum above key resistance levels near $80,000, analysts said, adding that ETF outflows and macro uncertainty had created only short‑term pressure while institutional interest in digital assets remained intact.

BTC has a strong support zone between the $75,000-$73,000 levels and an immediate resistance at $77,000, market participants said.

Analysts urged investors to avoid chasing sudden rallies and focus on portfolio allocation, liquidity management, preferring fundamentally strong assets.

Asian equity markets traded mostly lower, with Japan’s Nikkei falling around 1 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declining over 1 per cent, while South Korea’s KOSPI gained nearly 1 per cent.

—IANS

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