Bitcoin Loses $100k As Iran Tensions Escalate

BTC slipped to $98,615 on Sunday evening (UTC), its first sub-$100 K print since 8 May before recovering to just over $100,000 at press time. Markets remain on edge as the world waits for Iran’s response to U.S. strikes.

Traders have rediscovered that oil runs the world. Iranian lawmakers advanced a resolution to slam the Strait of Hormuz shut, and 50-plus tankers reportedly bolted for open water after a U.S. strike on Iranian targets. 

Bitcoin dropped below $100,000 before recovering, Source: BNC Bitcoin Liquid Index

The Hormuz Headache 

• 20 % of global crude—roughly 20 million barrels a day—squeezes through that 21-mile chokepoint. If Iran’s Supreme National Security Council green-lights the blockade, JPMorgan’s “worst-case” model pencils Brent at $120-$130/bbl and drags U.S. CPI back toward 5 %, levels last seen in March 2023.
  
• Energy desks are already marking up Brent futures for Monday’s open, and a $5-gap jump is the mild scenario. The all-time Brent peak is $147 (July 2008); a genuine closure would put that record in play.
  

Big Oil fear means “risk-off” across crowded macro trades—and in 2025 that includes spot BTC ETFs, which Wall Street now treats like turbo-charged QQQs.

Does Crude Really Steer Crypto?

The narrative looks tidy, but history is messy:

• Correlation roller-coaster: Bitcoin has spent most of its life marching to its own drummer; even when correlations spiked during 2020’s everything-selloff they topped out at ~0.22 versus the S&P 500. vaneck.com
  
• Reversion to weird: Post-2022, crypto’s link to traditional risk assets has largely faded, with idiosyncratic drivers (ETF approvals, regulatory slap-downs, memecoin manias) drowning out macro noise.
  

In other words, today’s oil scare may explain the knee-jerk leg lower, but it doesn’t dictate where BTC trades next month. Alt coins have been hit harder, any hope of an altcoin season seems off the table for now with double digit losses for many meme coins.

Higher Energy ≠ Death Sentence for Bitcoin

1. Inflation hedge redux? A fresh oil shock rekindles the “sound money” pitch; the 2021-style narrative could reappear if CPI flares and real yields sag.
   
2. Hash-price tailwind: Costlier electricity squeezes inefficient miners, accelerating the post-halving shake-out and lowering sell-pressure from forced hash-cash conversions. Paradoxically bullish.
   
3. Liquidity wild-card: A CPI pop keeps the Fed hawkish, but Washington is also staring down a $2 T deficit. If Treasury turns the money-hose back on, Bitcoin laps it up.
   

Sunday’s drop is less an omen of crypto apocalypse and more a classic macro scare trade. If Hormuz actually closes and oil rockets to three-digit heaven, expect another bout of volatility and Twitter doom-posting. But remember: Bitcoin has survived energy embargoes, banking crises, and multiple bear-markets. Six-digits were a psychological trophy, not a structural floor.

Savvy investors should watch duration—if the shipping lane re-opens quickly, today’s flush will look like a discount. If it doesn’t, strap in for the most interesting macro-crypto mash-up since COVID.

Either way, volatility is back on the menu. And honestly, when has Bitcoin ever been more fun than when everyone else is sweating? If you’ve been asking if now is a good time to buy Bitcoin, this is the dip some have been waiting for.