Split Capital Founder: Continuation of Cryptocurrency Sell-Off “Could Depend on Further Escalation of Geopolitical Tensions in the Middle East”

Golden Finance reported that the cryptocurrency market saw a broader decline as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East triggered risk aversion. Zaheer Ebtikar, founder of cryptocurrency fund Split Capital, said the continuation of the cryptocurrency sell-off “may depend on further escalation.” Tensions hammered stocks on Friday, boosting safe-haven assets such as bonds and the dollar. About $1.5 billion in bullish cryptocurrency bets through derivatives were unwound on Friday and Saturday, Coinglass data showed, one of the highest two-day unwinding levels in at least six months. Ebtikar said leverage “has been completely overwhelmed over the past three days, which has resulted in a material deterioration in digital asset prices.”