Oil tumbles, crypto gains as Trump sends mixed signals over Iran war

US President Donald Trump told CBS News in a phone interview on Monday that the war in Iran was 'very complete, pretty much,' saying 'they have nothing left. There's nothing left in a military sense.'

“Oil prices fell while cryptocurrencies posted modest gains on Monday after US President Donald Trump told reporters that war with Iran could be coming to an end — even as he later ramped up the war rhetoric again on social media”

Cointelegraph

The US military says it struck more than 3,000 Iranian targets in the first week of operations.

Cointelegraph

Those comments coincided with oil prices falling 28% from a four-year high of $118 on Monday to around $85 in the hours that followed, according to OilPrice.

On Tuesday Trump posted on Truth Social that "If Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far."

He added, "Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again," and warned, "Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!"

Cointelegraph

At a Republican congressional fundraising event in Florida on Monday he also said, "We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough... We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all."

Cryptocurrencies posted modest gains as markets reacted.

“Oil prices fell while cryptocurrencies posted modest gains on Monday after US President Donald Trump told reporters that war with Iran could be coming to an end — even as he later ramped up the war rhetoric again on social media”

Cointelegraph

Crypto markets were up 3.1% over the past 24 hours, with Bitcoin reclaiming $70,000 and Ether hovering just above $2,000 at the time of writing.

Augustine Fan, partner and head of insights at crypto trading software service provider SignalPlus, told Cointelegraph it is generally 'hard to take these headline comments at face value,' especially with other members of his [Trump’s] cabinet stating that things are still in the beginning phase, and US military assets still deployed in the region.

He added that 'crypto prices will continue to follow other risk assets without a fundamental narrative of its own in the near term, and macro leadership will still be driven by oil, which has seen a +$30 turnaround over the span of just 24 hours.'

He said, 'We don’t expect the conflict to be resolved any time soon... we would expect tradable bounces and BTC to do relatively better as a potential store of value during these times.'

Andri Fauzan Adziima, research lead at Bitrue, told Cointelegraph that if Trump's claim that the Iran war is almost over proves accurate, "I'm expecting a strong relief rally in crypto, driven by plunging oil prices, eased inflation/geopolitical fears, and renewed risk appetite."

He added that "doubts persist amid mixed signals from Iran and potential for prolonged uncertainty."

Cointelegraph

Iran's Revolutionary Guard reportedly responded to Trump by calling his comments "nonsense" and saying, "we are the ones that will determine the end of the war."