Bitcoin (BTC) price hit by swift Asia-hours selloff, stages partial recovery

CoinDesk

by Oliver Knight

February 23, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

Bitcoin experienced significant volatility overnight as it dropped to $64,270 shortly after midnight UTC before rebounding to around $66,300. The sharp decline, which occurred during Asian trading hours, was exacerbated by thin liquidity, amplifying price swings tied to geopolitical tensions and U.S. trade policy developments. This selloff mirrored broader market movements, with S&P 500 futures also dipping before recovering, while gold initially rose but later dipped as Bitcoin rebounded. The volatility in the crypto market was driven by a confluence of factors, including President Donald Trump's announcement of new 15% global tariffs and heightened U.S.-Iran tensions, which prompted a flight to safety among investors. Altcoins like Solana (SOL) and SUI (SUI) were particularly hard hit, falling between 7% to 8%, and contributing to $270 million in altcoin liquidations. However, these tokens saw some recovery during European trading hours. The broader crypto market's volatility also extended to derivatives markets, with open interest in futures remaining subdued below $100 billion for over two weeks. This reflects a lack of strong demand for leveraged products, while significant liquidations—$500 million in the past 24 hours—highlighted investor nervousness. Despite this, some tokens like Tether gold (

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Originally published on CoinDesk on 2/23/2026