Bitcoin Didn't Take a Weekend Off When Iran Started Shooting—and That's the Whole Point

Bitcoin has outperformed stocks and even gold during the Iran conflict, giving fresh fuel to Anthony Pompliano's claim that it is behaving more like a crisis hedge than a high-beta tech bet. Pompliano argues that Bitcoin is emerging as a rare stabilizer in a war-shocked market, calling it the "shining light" during the Iran conflict while stocks, bonds, and even gold sell off. Apparently the orange coin decided that geopolitics was just another volatility event to farm for gains, because why let a little regional warfare interrupt the floor?

In a circulating clip from CNBC's Squawk Box, the ProCap Financial CEO noted that "in a true risk-off environment, Bitcoin isn't following, instead it's starting to decouple," with volatility compressing and demand holding even as traditional hedges wobble. The old guard of finance is slowly coming to terms with the fact that while they're still arguing about whether Bitcoin is money, the market cap is casually outperforming their beloved bond portfolios.

Since the first strikes on Iran, Bitcoin has quietly beaten many of the assets it is usually compared against. $BTC was up about 7% and trading near $71,000 even as gold stayed roughly flat and the S&P 500 slipped around 1% in the early phase of the war, according to Binance pricing. Gold just sat there like a pet rock that forgot how to be precious, while Bitcoin kept its Saturday night reservation.

A separate analysis by Martin Leinweber, CFA, found Bitcoin dropped to roughly $63,000 on the initial Saturday night attack before grinding higher and ultimately outperforming gold, Asian equities, and the Korean stock market over the following weeks. Only oil did better as a direct beneficiary of the conflict. Meanwhile, Korean stocks probably wished they had Bitcoin's ability to handle pressure without needing a government backstop.

The Economic Times likewise noted that Bitcoin had gained about 10% since the initial strikes, pushing above $72,000 and beating the US dollar and major stock indexes. The dollar's loss was Bitcoin's gain, which shouldn't surprise anyone who's watched this asset class long enough to remember when "digital gold" was considered cope rather than a price target.

Pom