Bitcoin is beating gold during the Iran war, but its dependence on liquidity cycles keeps the safe haven narrative in question. Before the Iran war broke out, Bitcoin spent months trading sideways while gold rallied to record levels. At the time, gold was seen as the go-to safe haven; inflation concerns remained persistent and geopolitical tensions continued to build, while Bitcoin (BTC) failed to live up to that role. Nearly a month after the US and Israel launched the first strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, that view is being challenged. Bitcoin initially fell to $63,176 on the news of the attacks but has since risen about 12% to $71,012, as of Wednesday.
Bitcoin bounced back above $71,000 after US President Donald Trump’s administration sent a proposal to Iran aimed at ending the war. Bitcoin (BTC) rose back above $71,000 during the early Asian trading hours on Wednesday after Trump’s administration offered a 15-point plan to Iran to end the war, sparking short-term optimism across risk assets. Key takeaways: Bitcoin bounces 4% to $71,500 after President Trump sent Iran a 15-point proposal aimed at ending the war.
Falling tech stock prices and rising bond yields have forced a rush for cash, preventing Bitcoin from gaining any bullish momentum. Key takeaways: Investors dumped gold and bonds for cash as war-driven oil spikes and inflation forced a defensive market stance. Rising yields and a 20% rate hike chance signal a tight outlook, leaving Bitcoin vulnerable amid soaring US debt.
BTC price fell below $70,000 on macro tensions as analyst considered a possible bullish "regime shift" already starting to play out for Bitcoin. Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $70,000 at Tuesday’s Wall Street open as macro assets fell over Iran war tensions. Key points: Bitcoin fails to turn $70,000 support as macro selling pressure sparks losses across global assets.
Bitcoin moved back above $71,000 after US President Donald Trump postponed Iran strike for five days, sending oil price crashing below $100. Bitcoin (BTC) broke back toward $71,000 during Monday’s European trading session as US President Donald Trump said attacks on Iran’s power infrastructure would be postponed. Key takeaways: Bitcoin bounces 5% to $71,000 after President Trump said US attacks on Iran's infrastructure would be postponed.
Bitcoin and Asian markets dropped on Monday as Iran escalated threats to strike critical infrastructure in the Gulf. Crypto and the wider markets tumbled on Monday as the US and Iran escalated threats toward one another for the fourth week, sending oil prices seesawing. US President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday that the US would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants, “starting with the biggest one first,” if the country didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Iran responded by saying it will answer any US strikes on its power or water infrastructure with attacks on US and Israeli assets in the Gulf and threatened to completely close the Strait, one of the world’s vital oil shipping lanes.
Gold is also being impacted by rising anticipation that the US Federal Reserve won’t cut interest rates this year, while Fed chair Jerome Powell said inflation would rise. Gold tumbled another 3.5% to $4,488 per ounce on Friday, marking an 11% fall for the week and the largest weekly loss the precious metal has seen since 1983 as geopolitical instability and uncertainty in the Middle East continue to weigh on the markets. Gold has fallen more than 15% since Feb. 28, when the US and Israel first attacked Iran, erasing part of the rally that pushed its price up to the $5,500 mark in late January and casting doubt on its safe haven status. TradingView confirmed that March 16-20 was gold’s worst-performing week since 1983. The 11% weekly fall was slightly larger than the last week of January,…
Iran-linked contracts drove prediction market activity higher as the CFTC opened rulemaking and Democrats moved to ban war and death bets. Prediction market activity has climbed sharply as traders flock to contracts tied to the escalating US-Iran conflict, while Washington moves toward clearer federal rules for event contracts and a legislative push to explicitly bar markets tied to war, terrorism and death. Notional trading volume on Polymarket and Kalshi rose to new all-time highs during the week ending Monday, March 9, to $2.49 billion and $2.85 billion, respectively, according to Token Terminal data. The growing activity has pushed the total notional volume across all prediction markets to $145 billion through 2.8 million unique users, data from Dune shows. While the ongoing conflict d…
During the Iran conflict, gold attracted safe-haven demand, while Bitcoin’s reaction reflected liquidity conditions and broader market sentiment rather than acting as a classic crisis hedge. The 2026 Iran conflict created a major geopolitical shock that triggered volatility across global markets. It pushed investors to reassess traditional safe-haven assets such as gold and emerging alternatives like Bitcoin. Gold initially benefited from safe-haven demand but later declined as the US dollar strengthened and bond yields rose. This showed that macroeconomic forces can override crisis-driven buying. Bitcoin experienced volatility but recovered quickly, reflecting its growing role as an alternative asset. However, its price movements remained closely tied to market sentiment and liquidity con…
The crypto exchange responded to a Senate inquiry over sanctions by claiming that “no Binance account transacted directly with an Iran-based entity.“ Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has officially responded to a February inquiry launched by a group of 11 US senators, largely denying facilitating transactions to Iranian entities and the narrative around employees’ terminations. In a Friday letter to US Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ron Johnson of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Binance said that an inquiry launched in February into the exchange’s activities was based on reports that were “demonstrably false, unsupported by credible evidence, and defamatory in several material respects.” The exchange referred to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Fort…
TRM said a post-strike spike in Nobitex wallet activity looked like routine liquidity moves, even as Chainalysis flagged higher outflows from Iranian exchanges overall. Nobitex, Iran’s biggest crypto exchange, showed no signs of a sustained, user-driven run after US-Israeli strikes on Iran, even as blockchain data indicated a brief spike in activity and higher outflows from Iranian exchanges more broadly, according to separate analyses from TRM Labs and Chainalysis. The TRM report, which examined onchain activity around Nobitex after US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28, found that the platform recorded a noticeable increase in activity in the immediate aftermath, including transfers exceeding $35 million from hot wallets to cold storage. However, TRM said the transfers were likely…
The purchases came as geopolitical tensions tied to the US and Israel's conflict with Iran weighed on global markets, pushing major indexes lower. Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest increased its exposure to crypto-related equities, adding shares of Coinbase and Robinhood Markets across several of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as broader markets pulled back. The company purchased a combined 22,452 shares of Coinbase across the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) and ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), according to trade notifications for Tuesday. Based on Coinbase’s closing price of $182.36 during the day, the purchase was valued at about $4.1 million. Ark also accumulated 158,587 shares of Robinhood through the same ETFs. With Robinhood closing at $76.07, the transa…
Bitcoin price strength received a surprise bullish catalyst from US manufacturing data, helping to relieve tensions over Iran as US stocks floundered. Bitcoin (BTC) surged toward $70,000 after Monday’s Wall Street open as crypto markets diverged from US stocks. Key points: Bitcoin reacts to positive US manufacturing data as bulls manage to sideline geopolitical tensions.
Arthur Hayes says the longer Donald Trump engages in expensive “Iranian nation-building,” the more likely it is that the Federal Reserve will boost money supply. The US Federal Reserve could ease its hawkish monetary policy to help finance the country’s conflict with Iran, which would boost crypto markets, says BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes. Hayes said in a blog post on Monday that every US president since 1985 has launched military action in the Middle East, and each time, the Federal Reserve has responded by cutting rates and expanding the money supply to finance the conflict. “The longer Trump engages in the extremely costly activity of Iranian nation-building, the higher the likelihood that the Fed lowers the price and increases the quantity of money to support Pax Americana’s latest…
Bitcoin avoided a fresh breakdown around major geopolitical events in the Middle East, with BTC price targets now including $74,000 next. Bitcoin (BTC) ignored geopolitical volatility on Sunday as traders waited for markets’ Iran reaction. Key points: Bitcoin coils around $67,000 as the dust settles on a wild weekend in the Middle East.
The US military reportedly relied on Anthropic’s Claude AI for intelligence analysis and targeting during an Iran strike hours after Trump ordered a ban on the company’s systems. The US military reportedly used Anthropic during a major air strike on Iran, only hours after President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to halt use of the company’s systems. Military commands, including US Central Command (CENTCOM) in the Middle East, used Anthropic’s Claude AI model for operational support, according to people familiar with the matter cited by The Wall Street Journal. The tool has reportedly assisted with intelligence analysis, identifying potential targets and running battlefield simulations. The incident shows how deeply advanced AI systems have become embedded in defense operations. Even…
Bitcoin faced geopolitical instability alone as a weekend move on Iran saw traditional markets closed, with key support still holding. Bitcoin (BTC) daily losses neared 4% on Saturday as the US and Israel announced a military operation in Iran. Key points: Bitcoin targets $63,000 as US President Donald Trump confirms a major bombing campaign inside Iran.
Binance rejected the allegations, saying it flags suspicious activity, enforces strict compliance procedures and does not permit Iranian users on the platform. A senior US lawmaker launched a congressional inquiry into crypto exchange Binance following reports that the platform processed about $1.7 billion in transactions tied to sanctioned Iranian entities and Russia’s oil “shadow fleet.” On Tuesday, Senator Richard Blumenthal, ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter to Binance CEO Richard Teng requesting documents and internal records related to the exchange’s sanctions controls and compliance practices. Citing reporting from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Fortune, Blumenthal said Binance compliance staff had identified two partne…
BTC price fell below the key $70,000 level as tensions between the US and Iran ramped up and a broad risk-asset sell-off liquidated late BTC long positions. Bitcoin (BTC) dipped below $67,000 at Tuesday’s Wall Street open as risk assets responded to new geopolitical pressures. Key points: Bitcoin joins stocks in a geopolitics-driven sell-off to the start the US TradFi trading week.
The Central Bank of Iran reportedly stockpiled more than half a billion dollars worth of USDt amid escalating protests and crypto usage in the country. Blockchain analytics platform Elliptic reported that the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) acquired more than half a billion dollars worth of Tether’s USDt, with indications that the stablecoins were used to prop up the country’s fiat currency. In a Wednesday report, Elliptic said Iran’s central bank had about $507 million in USDt (USDT), the US dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether. According to the platform, it was likely that the bank used the digital assets to address the collapse of Iran’s rial or settle international trade. “The CBI's accumulation of USDT began in earnest during a period of extreme economic volatility,” said Elliptic. “T…
