Crypto World

Bitcoin slides to $72,300 as Hormuz conflict and hot inflation hit risk assets

Published

3 hours ago

19 March 2026

Bitcoin Core maintainers face shake-up as Gloria Zhao revokes PGP key

Bitcoin slips to $72.3k as the Strait of Hormuz conflict spikes oil, U.S. inflation runs hot, and traders slash Fed cut bets, pressuring crypto and stocks.

Summary

Strait of Hormuz closure sends oil above $100, adding fresh inflation pressure before it even hits official data.

Hot U.S. PPI print forces traders to reprice 2026 Fed cuts, pushing equity futures and Bitcoin lower in a correlated risk-off move.

Elevated energy prices, sticky core inflation and an entrenched Gulf conflict leave the near-term path for crypto and other risk assets highly uncertain.

Cryptocurrency markets came under sharp pressure on Wednesday as two converging macro forces — an escalating military conflict centered on the Strait of Hormuz and a worse-than-expected U.S. inflation print — sent Bitcoin tumbling to approximately $72,300, a 24-hour decline of roughly 2%. Ethereum, Solana, and XRP each fell close to 3%, dragging the broader digital asset market into a broad risk-off retreat that also hit equity futures.

The geopolitical backdrop has been deteriorating since late February, when U.S. and Israeli forces launched coordinated strikes on Iran — killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — triggering retaliatory missile campaigns across Gulf states and an effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. As of mid-March, tanker traffic through the strait had dropped by approximately 70%, with over 150 vessels anchored outside the chokepoint. The IRGC has since confirmed more than 21 attacks on merchant ships, and Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has vowed to maintain the blockade, with the IRGC navy pledging to deliver “the harshest blows” to enforce it.

The disruption of the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 15% of global oil supply transits — has sent energy prices soaring. On Wednesday, Brent crude broke above $104 per barrel, rising 3.22% intraday, while WTI crossed $97 per barrel. The spike compounds an already difficult inflation environment.

Data released Wednesday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the Producer Price Index rose 0.7% month-on-month in February, more than double the consensus forecast of 0.3%. Core PPI — which strips out food and energy — climbed 0.5% MoM against an expected 0.3%, and rose 3.9% year-on-year. Critically, these figures do not yet reflect the surge in oil prices triggered by the Hormuz closure, meaning the inflationary pipeline is likely to worsen in coming months.

The report follows a February CPI reading that held steady at 2.4% year-on-year, but with core PCE — the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge — estimated at approximately 3.1%, well above the central bank’s 2% target. Capital Economics noted ahead of Wednesday’s PPI release that preliminary estimates already pointed to a “much firmer rise in the core PCE deflator.”

For markets, the implications are stark. Traders have now materially reduced bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2026, and S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures widened their declines to 0.5% following the PPI release. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) climbed 1.22 points to 23.59, reflecting rising investor anxiety ahead of the Fed’s rate decision later this week.

Bitcoin, which had been testing resistance near $74,000 in recent sessions, proved unable to hold those levels against the twin headwinds. The asset’s correlation with risk assets such as equities has reasserted itself sharply, undermining near-term narratives around its use as an inflation hedge. The Fed’s policy meeting and Chair Powell’s anticipated remarks on growth risks and price stability will now be closely watched for any signal that could shift the current trajectory.

With oil prices elevated, inflation proving stickier than models anticipated, and a military conflict showing no signs of de-escalation, the path of least resistance for risk assets — crypto included — remains uncertain at best.

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Crypto World

Retail ETF Frenzy Fueled Silver and Gold Boom and Bust

Published

13 seconds ago

19 March 2026

NewsAdmin

Retail ETF Frenzy Fueled Silver and Gold Boom and Bust

Retail gold purchases have tripled over the last six months, while Wall Street selling has accelerated over the past four months, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

“Retail-driven exuberance,” increasingly channeled through exchange-traded funds (ETFs), “set the stage for outsize moves,” continuing the precious metal rally from 2025, reported the BIS in a quarterly review released on Monday.

Since Q2 2025, retail investors have bought around $70 billion in gold ETFs, and these purchases have more than tripled over the last six months, observed the Kobeissi Letter, citing BIS data on Thursday.

“Retail investors are all-in on precious metals,” it noted.

Gold has surged 60% over the past year, and some crypto proponents have speculated it has come at the expense of Bitcoin, which some argue competes with gold as a store-of-value asset.

BIS data shows cumulative retail inflows effectively tripled from around $20 billion to roughly $60 billion over the six months from late Q3 2025 to the end of Q1 2026.

However, institutional selling started around mid-November and accelerated after the precious metals market began to correct in January, according to the data.

*Retail has been buying gold funds while institutions have been selling. Source:* *BIS*

Leveraged liquidations amplified commodity drops

Bitcoin (BTC) is not the only asset susceptible to high volatility from overleveraged positions.

Prices of precious metals such as gold and silver reversed abruptly in late January and February 2026, while the “daily rebalancing of leveraged ETFs and margin‑triggered liquidations amplified the swings,” particularly in silver, BIS reported.

Smaller speculative derivatives traders, or “non-reportables,” had built up heavily leveraged long positions in silver heading into the crash, it added.

Gold prices are currently down 9% from their late January all-time high, while silver has slumped much harder, dropping 34% over the same period, according to GoldPrice.

The abrupt price drop and the spike in precious metal volatility “point to the role of retail flows, and amplification of price moves due to forced sales by leveraged ETFs, trend-following investors such as commodity trading advisers, and margin dynamics,” BIS stated.

Dollar strengthens as commodities and crypto weakens

The bank concluded that gold and silver declines coincided with changing expectations around US monetary policy and the performance of the US dollar, which has gained 4.7% since late January, according to the DXY dollar index.

“The precious metals crash seemingly coincided with shifts in expectations about the US dollar and the path of monetary policy, but it was hard to square with broader changes in fundamentals.”

Meanwhile, crypto markets have fallen around 43% from their October total capitalization peak as retail sentiment and interest in digital assets have dried up and remain at bear market levels.