Today in crypto, Ether’s sharp sell-off has left one of the market’s largest crypto treasury holders nursing billions in unrealized losses, underscoring the risks of balance-sheet strategies during periods of heavy deleveraging. Meanwhile, the US Treasury has sanctioned two UK-registered crypto exchanges tied to Iran’s financial system, and Bitcoin’s latest reversal has pushed it out of the world’s top 10 assets by market capitalization.
Ether sell-off leaves BitMine facing billions in unrealized losses
BitMine Immersion Technologies, a publicly traded crypto treasury company linked to investor Tom Lee, is carrying more than $6 billion in unrealized losses on its Ether holdings following the latest wave of market liquidations.
The losses grew after BitMine acquired 40,302 Ether (ETH) last week, lifting its total holdings to more than 4.24 million ETH, according to data from Dropstab. At current prices, the company’s Ether balance is valued at roughly $9.6 billion, down from a peak of about $13.9 billion in October.
Ether’s decline toward $2,300 has been driven in part by fragile liquidity conditions. Market commentary from The Kobeissi Letter pointed to high leverage and crowded positioning as factors amplifying the sell-off.
US Treasury sanctions Iran-linked crypto exchanges for first time
The United States Treasury has sanctioned two cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Iran’s financial system, marking the first time Washington has directly targeted digital asset platforms as part of its Iran sanctions program.
In a statement on Friday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the sanctions are part of a wider move against Iranian officials and networks accused of violently suppressing people at home while using alternative financial channels to get around international sanctions.
Among those sanctioned was Eskandar Momeni Kalagari, Iran’s minister of the interior, who oversees the country’s Law Enforcement Forces. “Treasury will continue to target Iranian networks and corrupt elites that enrich themselves at the expense of the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
OFAC also designated Babak Morteza Zanjani, a well-known Iranian businessman previously convicted of embezzling billions of dollars in oil revenue from Iran’s national oil company. According to the Treasury, Zanjani was released from prison and later used by the Iranian state to help move and launder funds, providing financial support to projects tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Liquidations knock Bitcoin out of world’s top 10 assets
Bitcoin’s sharp reversal this week has pushed it outside the world’s 10 largest assets by market capitalization, underscoring how difficult price action has been in recent months as markets continue to digest the cryptocurrency industry’s largest forced liquidation on record.
Hovering around $83,000 per coin, Bitcoin’s market capitalization has slipped to about $1.65 trillion, ranking it 11th globally. That places it just behind Saudi Aramco, the state-run oil giant, and below Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), according to market data trackers.
By contrast, gold has surged to the top spot by a wide margin following a record-breaking rally, cementing its position as the world’s largest asset. The gains have been accompanied by explosive growth in gold futures activity, a trend highlighted in recent data by cryptocurrency exchange MEXC.
Bitcoin’s market capitalization peaked at nearly $2.5 trillion in October, when prices briefly topped $126,000. The latest sell-off was driven by about $1.6 billion in long liquidations, as prices rapidly fell to below $82,000 from near $90,000.
The move has reignited concerns that the world’s largest cryptocurrency may be in the early stages of a prolonged bear market.
