If the US-Iran War Drags On, Stocks, Crypto, and the Dollar Could Sink

Geopolitical tremors are rattling the global financial system. A protracted US-Iran conflict threatens to unravel the very fabric of modern markets—stocks, crypto, and the almighty dollar aren't safe.

The Flight to Safety Gets Complicated

Traditional safe havens lose their luster when the conflict involves a major reserve currency issuer. Investors scramble, but where do you hide when the bedrock itself shakes?

Digital Gold's Ultimate Test

Bitcoin and major altcoins face their most severe stress test yet. Proponents tout crypto as an uncorrelated, sovereign asset class. A drawn-out war will prove—or demolish—that thesis under extreme duress.

DeFi's Sink-or-Swim Moment

Decentralized finance protocols, built on the promise of censorship resistance, confront their raison d'être. Can smart contracts and DAOs provide financial stability when nation-states falter? The experiment moves from theory to brutal practice.

The Dollar's Dominance Dilemma

Sanctions weaponize the dollar, but prolonged conflict exposes its double-edged nature. It fuels a desperate search for alternatives—a search that accelerates digital asset adoption even amidst the chaos. Nothing pushes innovation like existential panic, except maybe the promise of outsized returns.

Markets hate uncertainty more than they hate bad news. A forever war delivers the worst kind of uncertainty—the kind that makes even the most cynical Wall Street veteran nostalgic for a simple recession. The coming months won't be about picking winners; they'll be about identifying what survives.

Peter Schiff Sounds Alarm

In a new tweet on X, economist Peter Schiff shared how the ongoing Iran US war can turn lethal for markets if dragged on for days. Schiff tweeted that this scenario may turn pessimistic for markets in the long haul if this war continues to gain momentum.

The expert stated that “,” the aforementioned development may start to impact crypto, the dollar, and stocks in the most eventful manner.

Investors seem to be assuming a short and successful war. While that would be the ideal outcome, I think the probability is low. Once the markets start to price in a more pessimistic outcome, stocks, bonds, crypto, and the dollar will be much lower, and oil and gold much higher.

The markets are currently balancing the risks, with dollars and stocks posting modest gains as of late. Rising Fed expectations of keeping rates high to fight inflation amid the war narratives caused a short spike in the US dollar. However, if the war takes on a rigorous route, it may push the global investor sentiment to rush towards solid safe havens such as gold and oil again.

Gold and Oil to the Rescue

According to Schiff, gold and oil are the only two products that may gain significantly in the long run. In a scenario where markets price in pessimism, gold and oil are the only two commodities that’ll emerge stronger among their other competitors and peers.

Per Rashad Hajiyev, gold is expected to hit the $7k to $8k price level soon in the future.

I believe very good times for the precious metals sectors is just about the corner. Once the present declining cycle ends, which I believe either done or about to be done, an impulsive advancing cycle in metals and miners is going to be the case just as previously. One could see… pic.twitter.com/kG2CQFablw