AI-focused altcoins surged Tuesday after a geopolitical trigger, then whipsawed as conflicting signals emerged. U.S. President Donald Trump announced a pause on planned strikes against Iran’s energy infrastructure, sparking a relief rally led by Bittensor‘s TAO token. Iran later denied any talks had occurred, causing volatility that led to roughly $670 million in leveraged crypto liquidations within 24 hours.
AI-focused altcoins led a market-wide rally Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would postpone planned strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure. This triggered a cascade of short liquidations as risk assets reacted positively.
Bittensor‘s TAO token jumped 10.2%, while Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) and Render (RENDER) gained 6.2% and 4.8%, respectively. The total crypto market cap topped $2.5 trillion, according to CoinGecko data.
Trump’s statement sent oil prices tumbling over 13%. However, Iran’s foreign ministry said there was “no dialogue” between Tehran and Washington.
The remarks sparked volatility that sent oil back over $100 a barrel. This led to over $670 million in liquidations across the crypto market over 24 hours.
Derek Lim, head of research at crypto market-making firm Caladan, told reporters the short squeeze propagated hardest into higher-beta names. He also pointed to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s recent conference as a second catalyst for AI tokens.
“Illia Otychenko, lead analyst at cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO, told reporters that conflicting statements are increasing uncertainty, which fuels risk aversion. He stated that uncertainty is keeping oil prices elevated and lowering expectations for rate cuts.
Otychenko said the dynamic was “not that bad for Bitcoin due to its store-of-value narrative.” Bitcoin continues to hold steady around $71,000, according to market data.
He warned the bigger risk would be if oil prices and Treasury yields started moving in different directions. That would create a complex macro backdrop that could test Bitcoin’s store-of-value narrative.
