Leah Callon-Butler recently wrote that crypto’s rock-and-roll era is over, and she’s mostly right about the arc. But I lived inside the music industry when rock and roll actually died, and there’s more to the story.

I was a product lead at Universal Music during the torrent era. I sat in the rooms where executives decided to sue grandmothers instead of building Spotify. I watched them spend more on lawyers than on artists. And eventually, I got fired for pointing out that we’d already lost.

So when someone uses rock and roll as a metaphor for what’s happening in digital assets, I know what the metaphor actually contains.

Here’s what the rock and roll era ending actually looked like from the inside. The loudest, most exciting part of the culture died while the boring infrastructure underneath it quietly became the thing that mattered. The rock stars disappeared. The streaming executives took over. And the audience grew even as the culture grew less interesting.

Callon-Butler frames this as a kind of mourning. The cypherpunk dream was diluted by ETFs and institutional custody. The laser eyes meme worn by presidents. And yeah, I understand the grief. I felt it watching Universal Music pivot from breaking artists to optimizing playlists.

But here’s where the music industry parallel actually gets useful, and nobody talks about this part.

The labels survived. They wrapped streaming and called it innovation. They went from fighting Napster to owning equity in Spotify. The same executives who wanted to destroy file sharing ended up profiting from the infrastructure file sharing forced into existence. The establishment absorbed the revolution and rebranded it.

That’s what’s happening right now with digital assets. JP Morgan is doing what Universal did with streaming. They’re wrapping the thing they fought and calling it a product. And just like with music, the audience is going to get bigger, the infrastructure is going to get better, and the culture is going to get less interesting. That part Callon-Butler nails.

But the part she misses is what happened next in music. Something the establishment couldn’t absorb.

While Universal was busy becoming a streaming company, ten thousand teenagers with blogs and bedroom studios were building something labels couldn’t wrap. The Swedish death metal kid. The Brazilian baile funk producer. The Detroit techno archaeologist. They didn’t know about each other. They didn’t even know Universal mattered. They just wanted to document what they loved.

And collectively, without any coordination, they created something institutions couldn’t replicate: infinite specificity. Every possible taste has its own ecosystem. Every microgenre has its own distribution channel. The monoculture dissolved into something so granular that no corporate structure could reassemble it.

The rock and roll era is obviously over. The question is what’s being built in the quiet spaces where the institutions aren’t looking.

Stablecoins are moving value across borders for people who’ve never heard of DeFi. Tokenized assets are creating markets in places where traditional finance never bothered to show up. Self-custody tools are getting quietly better while everyone’s distracted by ETF inflows. The boring infrastructure that makes the next wave possible.

I grew up in Argentina. I watched a government freeze bank accounts overnight and tell people their dollars were now worth a third of what they were yesterday. That experience teaches you something about money that stays with you forever. And it teaches you that the people who build the plumbing during the quiet periods are the ones who matter when things get loud again.

Callon-Butler asks whether crypto will stay weird. I’d reframe the question. The music industry stayed weird. It just stopped being weird in the places the executives were watching. The weirdness migrated to the edges, to bedroom producers, niche communities, and distribution channels that didn’t need permission.

Crypto’s rock-and-roll era ending is the most bullish thing that can happen to the industry. It means the adults showed up, and the adults bring capital that doesn’t leave when the vibes change. Crypto needs boring institutional plumbing. And that’s exactly what’s being built right now.

But somewhere out there, some kid in Lagos or Buenos Aires or Beirut is building something on these rails that nobody in a boardroom has imagined yet. They don’t even know the establishment exists. They just need the infrastructure to work.

That’s the beginning of the interesting part.

Global markets faced a real-time stress test as the 2026 Iran crisis escalated, amplifying concerns about energy flows and liquidity. Traders watched as risk sentiment swung and traditional safe-haven dynamics were tested in ways not seen for years. While gold initially benefited from demand for security, Bitcoin weathered the shock with pronounced volatility followed by a partial rebound, highlighting its evolving role in the risk-off landscape. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a substantial share of global oil moves, emerged as a pivotal flashpoint, reminding investors that energy disruption can rapidly reframe macro drivers. The episode underscored how macro forces—dollar strength, inflation expectations and bond yields—can override crisis-driven flows for both conventional assets and digital ones.

Key takeaways

• The 2026 Iran conflict produced a broad market shock, underlining how geopolitical events can reallocate capital across traditional and crypto assets as traders reassess inflation threats and supply-chain resilience.
• Gold initially climbed on safe-haven demand but later retreated as the U.S. dollar strengthened and Treasury yields rose, illustrating how macroeconomic forces can eclipse crisis-driven buying in the near term.
• Bitcoin experienced sharp intraday volatility but demonstrated resilience by rebounding after the initial drawdown, signaling a growing role as an alternative hedge amid liquidity shifts.
• The strength of the U.S. dollar acted as a dominant driver for both assets, as demand for dollar liquidity tended to suppress non-yielding instruments during periods of stress.
• The episode highlighted a structural divergence between traditional safe-haven assets and digital stores of value, inviting investors to rethink the “digital gold” narrative in the context of evolving liquidity and regulatory landscapes.

Tickers mentioned: $BTC

Market context: The episode fits within a broader framework of liquidity crunches, risk-off sentiment, and macro-driven price discovery that continue to shape both precious metals and crypto markets in times of geopolitical tension.

Why it matters

The Iran crisis offered a rare, real-world test of the long-held claim that Bitcoin can act as a safe-haven asset alongside gold. In the opening phase of the conflict, markets repriced risk across assets as traders sought liquidity and hedges amid rising energy concerns and potential supply shocks. While gold’s bid strength reflected its status as a centuries-old reserve asset, the subsequent pullback—at least in the short term—demonstrated how a strengthening dollar and higher yields can erode even the most trusted crisis hedges. This dynamic is instructive for investors who previously treated gold as an almost guaranteed ballast in crisis periods and who are now increasingly considering how digital assets might complement traditional portfolios under pressure.

Bitcoin, often described as “digital gold,” showed a more complex reaction. The asset moved with broad market liquidity and sentiment rather than reacting solely to geopolitical headlines. After a volatile start, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) staged a recovery that underscored its growing liquidity depth and investor interest as an option for diversification in stressed environments. The price path—marked by intraday declines followed by partial recoveries—illustrates how Bitcoin remains tethered to overall risk appetite and market ability to absorb shocks rather than acting as a pure hedging instrument on its own. This evolving behavior matters for institutions and retail participants weighing how digital assets fit into a risk-management toolkit during geopolitical disruptions.

The crisis also illuminated the role of macro drivers beyond geopolitics. As energy markets priced in potential disruption to flows through the Strait of Hormuz, crude prices surged and broader stock indices retreated. At the same time, the dollar’s strength emerged as the prevailing force in determining relative value across assets. When the dollar strengthens, non-yielding assets—like gold and Bitcoin—face headwinds as capital seeks dollar liquidity and yield-bearing instruments. This interplay between macroeconomics and geopolitics helps explain why neither asset delivered a unidirectional, sustained safe-haven rally in the conflict’s initial phase.

In the longer horizon, the episode emphasizes a nuanced distinction between established safe havens and newer digital instruments. Gold’s entrenched role in central banks’ portfolios and its long-standing history of crisis hedging continue to confer credibility. Bitcoin, by contrast, benefits from growing adoption and a broader, more diverse set of drivers—network usage, regulatory developments, and market structure improvements—that collectively influence its reaction to broader risk shifts. The narrative is not a binary of one asset outperforming another during crises; it is a testimony to the evolving landscape where traditional stores of value and digital assets coexist as components of diversified risk management.

To ground this analysis in verifiable facts, the crisis highlighted concrete data points: about 20% of the world’s oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that amplifies energy-price sensitivity during geopolitical tensions; the market saw gold prices rise initially but later retreat as the U.S. dollar strengthened and U.S. Treasury yields rose; Bitcoin traded a wide range before stabilizing in a mid-$70,000 vicinity in early March. Central-bank dynamics also surfaced, with gold reserves measured around 36,000 metric tons among major holders, reflecting the enduring importance of official sector demand in precious metals markets. The broader takeaway remains: while Bitcoin is carving out a legitimate, evolving role in the risk-off spectrum, it has not yet settled into a predictable safe-haven pattern like gold, and its behavior is increasingly tied to liquidity conditions and investor sentiment across asset classes.

What to watch next

• Monitor how Bitcoin (BTC) trades in response to fresh geopolitical headlines and any shifts in global risk appetite over the coming weeks.
• Track oil prices and energy-market developments tied to Hormuz-related disruption fears, as these will influence inflation expectations and macro liquidity conditions.
• Watch central-bank communications and gold reserve updates, particularly from major holders, as these can affect the relative appeal of gold as a crisis hedge.
• Observe regulatory signals and policy developments affecting cryptocurrencies in major jurisdictions, which can alter liquidity and institutional participation.

Sources & verification

• Energy data showing roughly 20% of world oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz (EIA): https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65504
• Oil price and market reaction coverage during the Iran-related escalation (Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-soars-25-gold-drops-iran-war-jolts-global-commodity-markets-2026-03-09/
• Euro area central-bank gold holdings and related data (ECB): https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/other-publications/ire/html/ecb.ire202506.en.html#:~:text=Global%20holdings%20of%20gold%20by%20central%20banks%20now%20stand%20at%2036%2C000%20tonnes
• Bitcoin price commentary and milestones during late February and early March 2026 (Cointelegraph): https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price
• “Store of value” debates and Bitcoin-led analyses cited in related Cointelegraph features (e.g., https://cointelegraph.com/features/can-bitcoin-really-be-a-store-of-value-what-pension-funds-are-starting-to-discover)
• Discussion on Bitcoin as a store of value amid policy shocks referenced in NYDIG coverage (https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-acts-store-of-value-amid-trump-policy-chaos-nydig)

What the article shows: A closer look at the crisis and crypto

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is increasingly seen as a hedge option beyond its role as a payment network and speculative asset. Yet the Iran crisis underscores that its safe-haven credentials are not unconditional. The asset’s success in cushioning portfolios will depend on liquidity, market depth, and the trajectory of macro indicators such as dollar strength and interest rates. Gold’s steadiness as a traditional crisis hedge remains a touchstone for risk managers, while Bitcoin’s evolving dynamics suggest a more nuanced, hybrid function within diversified strategies.

As the market digests the 2026 Iran shock, investors will be watching whether BTC proves its ability to absorb shocks with less volatility than risk assets or if liquidity constraints continue to dictate its price path. The divergence between gold and Bitcoin in this episode does not diminish the potential for both to coexist as components of a resilient portfolio, but it does recalibrate expectations for how these assets respond under extreme geopolitical stress and macro uncertainty.

Venus Protocol, a decentralized lending and borrowing platform, said on Sunday it had detected suspicious trading activity in the liquidity pool for the Thena (THE) token, the native cryptocurrency of the Thena decentralized finance platform.

The unusual trading activity only affected pools for the Cake (CAKE) token, the native cryptocurrency of the PancakeSwap decentralized exchange, and the Thena token, according to an announcement from Venus Protocol. The Venus team said:

“As we continue to investigate the unusual activity in the THE pool, we are taking precautionary action by pausing all THE borrows and withdrawals effective immediately, to prevent any further misuse. This will remain in effect until the investigation is concluded.”

The suspicious trading activity is suspected to be a supply cap attack that was executed in two phases: a steady accumulation of about 84% of the total THE token market cap, coupled with a lending attack, according Allez Labs, which was identified by Venus Protocol as its risk manager.

The Venus exploiter used the Theta token as collateral to borrow 6.67 million CAKE tokens, 1.58 million USDC (USDC), 2,801 BNB (BNB) — the native token of the BNB chain — and 20 Bitcoin (BTC), Allez Labs said. 

Out of caution, withdrawals and borrowing for other tokens, which have low liquidity on the platform, were also temporarily halted, Allez Labs said. The total amount lost in the attack is now over $3.7 million, according to Wu Blockchain. 

At the time of publication, THE was trading at $0.2255 apiece, down more than 17% in the last 24 hours, according to pricing data on CoinMarketCap.com.

Cointelegraph reached out to Venus Protocol but did not obtain a response by the time of publication.

The incident highlights the cybersecurity and code exploit threats faced by crypto users and decentralized finance platforms, as the sector grows and security threats that cause financial loss become increasingly sophisticated.

Related: February crypto losses hit lowest level since March 2025, says PeckShield

Monthly crypto losses from hacks fall in February, as attackers pivot to social engineering scams

The value lost in crypto-related hacks fell to $49 million in February, the lowest level in nearly a year, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield.

Despite the reduction in total value lost to hacks and code exploits during February, there was an uptick in phishing and social engineering scams.

“The majority of individual attacks targeted private users through phishing attacks, malicious signatures, and address poisoning scams,” according to a report from blockchain intelligence platform Nominis.

Phishing scams often use fake websites, which feature addresses that are nearly identical to legitimate domain names. These fraudulent websites have malware designed to steal private keys for cryptocurrencies or other sensitive information.

Magazine: ‘SEAL 911’ team of white hats formed to fight crypto hacks in real time