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Oil at $115, Iran war hits BTC

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Oil at $115, Iran war hits BTC

The crypto market update oil prices Iran war bitcoin impact news today is being written by an energy market in freefall: US crude surged above $115 per barrel and Brent crossed $111 after Tuesday’s Kharg Island strikes, the IEA’s head declared the Hormuz oil shock worse than the crises of 1973, 1979, and 2022 combined, and the chain connecting oil prices to Bitcoin has never been tighter or more punishing.

Summary

  • US crude oil surged above $115 per barrel following Tuesday’s Kharg Island strikes, with Brent crude above $111; gas prices in Los Angeles crossed $6 per gallon, and the national US average has reached $4.14, up from $2.98 before the war began
  • IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told French newspaper Le Figaro: “The world has never experienced a disruption to energy supply of such magnitude,” calling the current crisis “more serious than the ones in 1973, 1979 and 2022 together” — and warned that April would be worse than March because the last pre-war cargo ships are now clearing ports
  • The oil-to-crypto transmission mechanism is mechanical: higher oil drives inflation, inflation keeps the Federal Reserve from cutting rates, higher rates suppress liquidity, and tighter liquidity is the dominant headwind for risk assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum

The crypto market update oil prices Iran war bitcoin impact news today is as direct as it gets. US crude surged above $115 per barrel within minutes of the first Kharg Island strike reports on Tuesday, with Brent crude crossing $111. Gas prices in Los Angeles have already crossed $6 per gallon. The national average stands at $4.14, up from $2.98 the day before the war began on February 28.

This is the price of a closed strait. The Hormuz chokepoint normally handles roughly 20% of global oil and gas flows. Since Iran imposed its de facto blockade, global supply has lost approximately 12 million barrels per day, more than the combined shortfalls of 1973 and 1979, according to IEA data. “When you look at the 1973 and 1979 crises, in both of them we lost each about 5 million barrels per day. These oil crises led to global recession in many countries,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told the Norges Bank Investment Management podcast. “Today, we lost 12 million barrels per day — more than two of these oil crises put together.”

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Birol also warned specifically about the month ahead. March was partially buffered by cargo ships that had entered the strait before the war began and were still arriving at port. “In April, there is nothing,” he said in the same interview. The full impact of the supply disruption is only now reaching energy markets in real terms.

His conclusion to Le Figaro was unambiguous: the current crisis is “more serious than the ones in 1973, 1979 and 2022 together” — combining the oil shocks of both 1970s energy crises with the gas market dislocation that followed Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

How This Reaches Bitcoin

The mechanism is not subtle. As crypto.news reported, the Federal Reserve has no room to cut rates while oil is pricing in a prolonged supply shock. The market currently prices in minimal near-term Fed movement. Bitcoin performs best in easing liquidity conditions — rate cuts, falling dollar, growing money supply. It performs worst in exactly the conditions the Iran war has created: oil-driven inflation, a Fed on hold, and investors rotating into traditional safe-haven assets.

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As crypto.news noted, $65,000 has been identified as Bitcoin’s key near-term support. A sustained oil price above $115 keeps the macro headwind in place and leaves BTC vulnerable to a break below that level if tonight’s escalation materializes.

“The single most important solution to this problem is opening up the Hormuz Strait,” Birol said. Until that happens, crypto investors are effectively long on diplomacy whether they intend to be or not.

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Crypto World

Polygon Giugliano Hardfork Scheduled for April 8 to Improve Finality and Fees: Polygon Foundation

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Polygon Giugliano Hardfork Scheduled for April 8 to Improve Finality and Fees: Polygon Foundation

The Polygon Foundation confirmed the Giugliano hardfork will activate on mainnet at block 85,268,500 on April 8 at approximately 2 p.m. UTC.

The Polygon Foundation confirmed the Giugliano hardfork will activate on mainnet at block 85,268,500 on April 8 at approximately 2 p.m. UTC. The upgrade targets faster finality and improved fee transparency, allowing block producers to announce blocks earlier and reducing transaction confirmation time to finality.

The hardfork is part of Polygon’s broader push toward higher throughput for payments and tokenized assets. The upgrade follows a challenging 2025 for the network.

Sources: Polygon Foundation Forum | Polygonscan | BeInCrypto

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This article was generated automatically by The Defiant’s AI news system from publicly available sources.

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SEC Says Some Crypto Enforcement Cases Lacked Investor Benefit

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SEC Says Some Crypto Enforcement Cases Lacked Investor Benefit

Some past enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies lacked clear investor benefit and misinterpreted federal securities laws, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Tuesday. 

Since the 2022 fiscal year, the SEC brought 95 actions and $2.3 billion in penalties for “book-and-record violations,” it said in a statement about its enforcement results for 2025. 

“Together with seven crypto firm registration-related and six ‘definition of a dealer’ cases, these cases identified no direct investor harm from those violations, produced no investor benefit or protection.” 

It also reflected a “bias for volume of cases brought versus matters of investor protection,” a misallocation of resources and a misinterpretation of federal securities laws, the SEC said. 

It is the latest example of the regulator’s shift in approach towards enforcement since it came under new leadership under SEC Chair Paul Atkins in April 2025. 

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His predecessor, former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, has been accused of pursuing a regulation-by-enforcement approach toward crypto. Since his departure, the SEC has adopted a friendlier stance toward digital assets.

SEC said it is shifting its focus to quality over quantity

In the lead-up to Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, the SEC enforcement division engaged in an “unprecedented rush” to bring cases and moved ahead with an “aggressive pursuit of novel legal theories,” the agency said.

Atkins said the agency has since shifted away from this approach, ending regulation by enforcement and refocusing on the commission’s core mission by prioritizing cases that provide meaningful investor protection and strengthen market integrity.

“We have redirected resources toward the types of misconduct that inflict the greatest harm—particularly fraud, market manipulation, and abuses of trust—and away from approaches that prioritized volume and record-setting penalties over true investor protection,” he added.

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Consulting firm Cornerstone Research reported in November that under Atkins, the number of enforcement actions against public companies, including those involving crypto, decreased by about 30% in fiscal 2025 compared with fiscal 2024.

Under Paul Atkins, the number of SEC enforcement actions has dropped. Source: Cornerstone Research

In connection with 2025 enforcement actions, the SEC said it obtained orders for monetary relief totaling $17.9 billion, comprising $7.2 billion in civil penalties and the remainder in disgorgement and prejudgment interest.

Related: Crypto market safe harbor lands at White House for review

“This year’s enforcement results clarify the flaws of these actions and their respective penalties and re-establish the definition and measure of enforcement effectiveness, grounded in Congress’ original intent and focused on bringing actions that actually prevent investor harm instead of headlines and inflated numbers,” the SEC said. 

Some crypto companies are still in the firing line

Despite the SEC’s enforcement shift, several crypto companies were still hit with enforcement actions in 2025.

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In May 2025, Unicoin and four of its current and former executives were sued by the SEC for allegedly raising $100 million by misleading investors about certificates that purported to convey rights to receive Unicoin tokens and stock. However, the platform has accused the agency of distorting its regulatory statements to build a case. 

The SEC also filed a civil complaint against Ramil Ventura Palafox in April 2025, CEO of Praetorian Group International, for allegedly orchestrating a $200 million Ponzi scheme. A parallel criminal case brought by the US Department of Justice resulted in Palafox’s February sentence of 20 years in prison. 

Magazine: Your guide to surviving this mini-crypto winter