conflict

According to The Block, JPMorgan analysts have stated that Bitcoin is gradually surpassing gold as a currency devaluation hedge tool following the Iran conflict.Analysts led by Managing Director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou noted that Bitcoin ETFs recorded inflows for the third consecutive month in May, while gold ETFs are still struggling to recover the funds that flowed out during the outbreak of the Iran conflict in March. This indicates that since the conflict began, retail investors are choosing Bitcoin over gold for devaluation hedge trades.The analysts stated that Bitcoin purchases are not limited to retail investors through ETFs. JPMorgan's position proxy indicators based on CME Bitcoin futures and offshore perpetual futures have also reached new highs, indicating that institutional investors are similarly increasing their exposure. The momentum signals for Bitcoin and gold have also rebounded since the conflict began. Investors are also indirectly buying Bitcoin through Strategy, with the company's purchase volume potentially reaching around $30 billion this year if the current pace is maintained.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve official Daly stated that the current monetary policy is "slightly tight." He pointed out that if the conflict between the United States and Iran is resolved, it will create downward pressure on inflation.

According to Jinshi reports, U.S. President Trump stated that despite small-scale conflicts, the stock market reached a historic high today.

The leader of the Reform Party, Farage, has been accused by the opposition of having a conflict of interest. In 2024, he received a personal donation of £5 million from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne, after which the Reform Party proposed a regulatory draft for the cryptocurrency industry, aiming to reduce the stamp duty on cryptocurrency transactions from 24% to 10%, and proposed the establishment of a national Bitcoin reserve and a reduction in capital gains tax on crypto assets.Farage has admitted to receiving the aforementioned donation, and the Reform Party stated that policy-making is unrelated to donors. Additionally, Harborne donated £12 million to the party last year, and cryptocurrency businessman Ben Delo also donated £4 million this year. Farage is currently facing allegations of violating House of Commons rules, which could result in the suspension of his parliamentary status and trigger a by-election in severe cases.

The leader of the Reform Party, Farage, has been accused by the opposition of having a conflict of interest. In 2024, he received a personal donation of £5 million from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne, after which the Reform Party proposed a regulatory draft for the cryptocurrency industry in 2025, aiming to reduce the stamp duty on cryptocurrency transactions from 24% to 10%, and proposed the establishment of a national Bitcoin reserve and a reduction in capital gains tax on crypto assets.Farage has admitted to receiving the aforementioned donation, and the Reform Party stated that policy-making is unrelated to donors. Additionally, Harborne donated £12 million to the party last year, and cryptocurrency businessman Ben Delo also donated £4 million this year. Farage is currently facing allegations of violating House of Commons rules, which could result in his suspension from parliamentary duties and trigger a by-election in severe cases.

According to Jinshi News, Max Stainton, Senior Global Macro Strategist at Fidelity International, stated in a report that the outlook for U.S. interest rates for the remainder of the year will increasingly depend on the duration of the Middle East conflict. Fidelity's baseline scenario remains slightly more dovish than market pricing, expecting that the incoming Federal Reserve Chairman Waller and the committee will generally lean towards mitigating the damage caused by energy shocks to economic growth. However, as the risk of a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz increases, the risk of energy price shocks spreading to broader inflation shocks and affecting the overall economy has become clearly visible. "We still expect a rate cut this year, but the risks are clearly skewed towards no action being taken throughout the year."

According to PRNewswire, Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee stated that since the US-Iran conflict, ETH has outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 1,696 basis points, becoming the best-performing single asset globally, aside from crude oil, and has acquired the attributes of a "wartime store of value" asset.Tom Lee added that as Wall Street accelerates the promotion of on-chain tokenization and the demand for public, neutral blockchains from the Agentic AI system continues, Ethereum will continue to benefit. His basic expectation is that we are currently in the final stage of a "mini crypto winter."

According to Jinshi reports, Danske Bank analyst Asger Wilhelm Dalsjo stated in a report that as the Middle East conflict enters its ninth week, central banks will assess its current impact and future expectations. This week, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the European Central Bank will hold policy meetings. The analyst said, "This week, monetary policy decisions will become the main driving force for the market." It is expected that the aforementioned five central banks will keep interest rates unchanged, but their assessments of the economic impact of the Middle East conflict will be closely monitored.

According to Jinshi reports, U.S. President Trump stated in response to a reporter's question that the incident that occurred at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner that day was "completely shocking." He heard a noise but thought it was a tray falling to the ground."I was observing the situation at the time," he said, "but his wife reacted faster, seemingly realizing what was happening quickly." Trump expressed his hope to continue holding the dinner and promised to reschedule the dinner date as soon as possible.Trump stated that he had not received any briefings about threats before the dinner. He also mentioned previous assassination attempts against him and called on the American public to "resolve their differences." He noted that members of both parties condemned the related events that night. Trump also expressed gratitude to media personnel, stating that the media "acted very responsibly in their reporting."When asked if the shooting incident was related to the conflict with Iran, Trump said, "I don't think so."

Due to the ongoing escalation of the US-Iran conflict and restrictions on transportation in the Strait of Hormuz, international oil prices continue to rise strongly, experiencing the longest consecutive increase since January. Data shows that Brent crude oil (XBRUSDT) on the Gate platform is priced at $99.78, an increase of about 2.31%; WTI crude oil (XTIUSDT) is priced at $96.62, an increase of about 2.22%. Against the backdrop of rising oil prices, the trading activity of related derivatives has also increased.According to Coinglass data, the 24-hour trading volume of WTI crude oil (XTIUSDT) on the Gate platform reached $20.08 million, with a position size of about $4.53 million, ranking first among all exchanges; the 24-hour trading volume of Brent crude oil (XBRUSDT) reached $10.92 million, with a position of about $3.81 million, also ranking first. Driven by high volatility, market participation continues to rise, further highlighting Gate's advantages in liquidity and trading depth in the energy derivatives sector.Gate Contracts has pioneered the commodity contract sector, covering perpetual contract trading for XBRUSDT (Brent crude oil), XTIUSDT (WTI crude oil), and NG (natural gas), providing 24/7 trading, USDT settlement, and up to 100x leverage, helping users with cross-market asset allocation and strategic layout in volatile markets.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve's Daly stated that the future path of interest rates will depend on the duration of the conflict; if the conflict ends quickly, policy will return to the previous path of interest rates.

Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas posted on the X platform that BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund IBIT has been rising almost daily for the past three weeks, increasing by about 3.5% again, and has accumulated a rise of about 19% since the market sell-off triggered by the conflict between the U.S. and Iran. As concerns about geopolitical impacts have eased, fund sentiment has clearly recovered, driving Bitcoin-related ETFs to continue strengthening.

According to Cointelegraph, during the US-Iran conflict, UAE investors chose to buy the dip in AI and digital assets rather than reducing their overall positions.eToro data shows that in the first quarter, UAE users increased their holdings in several software and AI infrastructure stocks that had significantly pulled back in price. eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert stated that the behavior of UAE investors is driven by long-term themes rather than risk aversion, with the most obvious signals appearing in the AI infrastructure and software sector—ServiceNow (+125%), Super Micro Computer (+65%), Adobe (+54%), and Oracle (+38%) all saw significant increases in holdings against a backdrop of market pressure.In terms of crypto assets, Strategy Inc. remains the eighth highest held stock by UAE investors, indicating a continued allocation to crypto-related assets. Deutsche Bank's report on April 13 indicated that this conflict is more likely to strengthen rather than weaken the region's demand for AI, cybersecurity, and sovereign digital infrastructure; however, it also cited reports that the Amazon Web Services data centers in the UAE and Bahrain have been attacked, and the planned 1GW Stargate park in Abu Dhabi is also under threat.The report also noted that sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf region manage approximately $5 trillion in assets by 2025, with Abu Dhabi-related institutions being one of the most active sources of funding in the global AI sector. Local crypto businesses in Dubai are operating normally. HashKey MENA Managing Director Ben El-Baz told Cointelegraph that business remains normal, relying on cloud trading and custody systems; Binance also confirmed that the vast majority of employees chose to stay, but the Token2049 Dubai event has been postponed to 2027.The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) continues to advance its activity-type regulatory framework. VARA Market Assurance Director Sean McHugh stated that during times of pressure, serious market participants seek the clearest regulatory environment rather than the most lenient jurisdictions.

According to Jinshi reports, the Federal Reserve pointed out in the Beige Book released on April 16 that economic activity in most regions of the United States continues to grow at a moderate to slight pace amid a new round of uncertainty triggered by the war in Iran and rising energy costs. Overall price increases remain moderate, but energy and fuel costs have risen significantly across all 12 Federal Reserve districts. The report indicates that the Middle East conflict is seen as a major source of uncertainty, increasing the complexity of businesses' decisions regarding hiring, pricing, and capital investment, with many businesses adopting a wait-and-see attitude. The data is as of April 6 and reflects the initial impact of the war on the U.S. economy.

Bitwise Asset Management points out that the recent strength of Bitcoin is not contrary to a risk-averse environment, but is directly driven by geopolitical conflicts. Since the escalation of the situation in the Middle East at the end of February, BTC has risen by about 12%, while the S&P 500 index has fallen by about 1% and gold has dropped by about 10%, showing a clear divergence in performance.Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan and research director Ryan Rasmussen state that Bitcoin is simultaneously embodying two logics: "store of value asset" and "potential international settlement currency." As the financial system becomes "weaponized" and the global payment system fractures, the appeal of non-sovereign neutral assets continues to rise. The report suggests that geopolitical fragmentation is prompting some countries to explore alternative paths to bypass the traditional financial system, such as attempting to introduce Bitcoin settlements in trade. This trend enhances BTC's potential position in the global monetary system. Based on the aforementioned changes, Bitwise indicates that the Bitcoin valuation framework is being reshaped; if it captures both store of value and transaction settlement demand, long-term price expectations may be underestimated, and $1 million could shift from a target ceiling to a "benchmark level."

According to Jinshi reports, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda stated that in light of the Middle East conflict causing turmoil in financial markets, a cautious response is necessary.

According to market news, the UK Liberal Democrats have written to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), requesting an investigation into the relationship between Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and the Bitcoin company Stack BTC.The party questions whether Farage's appearance in the company's promotional video, while holding shares in Stack BTC, violates market rules and presents a conflict of interest. Stack BTC recently disclosed that it purchased 37 bitcoins as company reserves, valued at approximately $2.7 million, and Farage holds a 6.31% stake in Stack BTC through his media company. At the same time, the UK government is advancing a proposal to ban political donations in cryptocurrency to prevent external funding from interfering in elections. The FCA stated that it will review the relevant correspondence and respond.

According to Gate market data, U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average initially rising 0.6%, the S&P 500 index up 1%, and the Nasdaq up 1.2%. Both the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq have recovered all losses since the outbreak of the recent U.S.-Israel conflict. Oracle (ORCL.N) rose 12.7%, SanDisk (SNDK.O) rose 11.8%, and Intel (INTC.O) rose over 4%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed up 0.7%, with Baidu (BIDU.O) rising over 3%.