Bitcoin Holds Strong During Middle East Crisis, Backed by ETFs

Recent headlines around the globe spotlighted rising Israel–Iran tensions over the weekend, including airstrikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure and retaliatory missile strikes. As such, crypto market concerns emerged around potential disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and oil supply increases.

However, despite the geopolitical situation, Bitcoin experienced a relatively mild pullback of approximately 3%, from lows of $103k to rebounding above $107k. Interestingly, this contrasts with deeper declines of about 8% in April during similar tensions.

Market volatility indicators remain subdued as front-end implied volume for Bitcoin is below 40%, and the VIX (volatility index) hovers around 20, which are levels that are interpreted as moderate given the current risks.

Additionally, big inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs continued for the seventh consecutive week, with over $1.07 billion entering these products within four days, ending June 12.

Large corporate holders remained active, so it’s likely that was another factor that helped Bitcoin’s price to stabilize. For instance, Metaplanet reached 10,000 Bitcoin, issuing $210 million in bonds aimed at further accumulation. This acquisition made the Japanese company surpass Coinbase as the seventh-largest publicly traded company with a Bitcoin treasury.

Some analysts interpret these moves as bolstering Bitcoin’s role as a macro hedge, particularly during the ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

The crypto community sees the strength in ETF flows and institutional accumulation as market validation of Bitcoin’s maturity and defensive appeal amid risk-off episodes. At the moment, the landscape is characterized by geopolitical fragility, elevated sovereign debt, and USD weakness, which is generally viewed as structurally bullish for Bitcoin adoption over time.

Historically speaking, the cryptocurrency has shown short-lived pullbacks during similar times, only to rebound sharply thereafter.

Unlike gold, which gained approximately 1.5%, Bitcoin fell about 1.6% during recent strikes. This reflects its hybrid nature, but so far, it seems that ETFs are tipping the scales. ETF inflows are increasingly viewed as supportive tailwinds, cushioning Bitcoin during geopolitical volatility and reinforcing the idea of BTC as a diversified asset.

Still, if the Middle East situation escalates where the Strait of Hormuz gets closed (which many fear), the ripple effects across oil prices and risk assets could trigger sharper price unpredictability.