Crypto Longs Wiped for $581M as Bitcoin Crashes to $78K — Inflation Kills the Rate-Cut Trade!

A long-skewed liquidation cascade tore through crypto markets overnight, flushing $581 million in positions over 24 hours — 95% of it from leveraged longs. Bitcoin dropped 3.2% to near $78,000, erasing all gains from the past seven days when it briefly touched $82,000. ETH lost 3.3% to $2,189, SOL fell 5% to $86.98, XRP slid 4.3% to $1.41, and Dogecoin dropped 4.2% to $0.1095. BTC liquidations led at $189 million, followed by ETH at $151 million. The single largest wipeout was a $21.59 million BTCUSDT position on Bitget.

The trigger was macro, not crypto-native. Back-to-back hot CPI and PPI prints, Brent crude settling above $105 on Iran conflict-driven supply fears and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. 10-year Treasury yields topping 4.5% have collectively killed the rate-cut narrative. Japan's 30-year debt hit 4% for the first time; U.K. long-bond rates touched…