3 Cryptocurrencies to Watch Amidst the Ongoing Geopolitical Storm

There is global geopolitical tension. Here are some cryptocurrencies to watch in this context in 2026.

There’s no two ways around it – the world in 2026 is one where war is clearly on the table. From the Middle East to Ukraine, geopolitical tensions are rising around the world.

As CryptoPotato reported yesterday, the US attacked Iran together with Israel. Retaliation followed, and now both sides are urging the other to think twice before responding with even greater force.

In the context of serious geopolitical tensions, we decided to guess a little and see which three cryptocurrencies are worth it in such a scenario.

Bitcoin

As much as the industry wants to paint Bitcoin as a safe asset isolated from risky markets, it has behaved like anything else over the past year.

However, BTC remains the king of cryptocurrencies – it is the largest by market capitalization, accounting for 56% of the entire industry. It’s worth watching. However, in terms of efficiency, the primary cryptocurrency decreases when conflicts arise and recovers after the tension eases. This is what happened last year when the US struck Iran and then claimed to have destroyed their nuclear program; which is still visible.

However, it is also worth noting that Bitcoin has been much more volatile than legacy markets, and experts believe that the current price action is a sign of a deep crypto winter.

If this is the case, and the conflict in the Middle East is put to bed (one way or another), this could ease the obvious uncertainty in the markets and ultimately push prices higher. On the other hand, a protracted conflict could bring more uncertainty by increasing tensions and involving additional countries such as Russia, China and the rest of the Middle East – something the US has vowed to avoid by not getting involved in a protracted war in the region. Time will tell.

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At the time of writing, BTC is trading around $67,000 – up 2% for the week, 5% in the last 24 hours, but more importantly, 47% from its peak just five months ago. While clearly on the decline, the resolution of current conflicts may serve as a catalyst for recovery.

Marked Gold Tokens

Gold has taken center stage in 2025, and barring an unprecedented decline in early February 2026, it’s largely for assets. It is sure to live up to its name as a true haven, as investors flock to it in times of geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty.

At the time of writing, the price of gold is trading over $5,200 an ounce, up more than 100% in the past year.

But getting physical gold is not that easy, the spread can be significant and the logistics are difficult. It is there that investors can refer to its digital representative, tokens that are fully supported by it.

The two most popular, which make up the bulk of the gold bullion market, are Paxos’ PAX Gold (PAXG) and Tether’s Tether Gold (XAUT), which have similar market capitalizations.

Both are traded on the most popular centralized exchanges with significant market depth, making trading easy with minimal slippage. Of course, you are very comfortable trading for security because you have to be sure that the issuers really have enough gold to back them up in the event of a physical redemption.

But on the other hand, if you think, as the market seems to be a lot today, then accessing a package of liquid gold and fast can be an option.

That said, the interest in both is obvious – their total market capitalization has increased over the past year.

Privacy oriented coins

In 2025, we saw a buying frenzy focused on privacy coins like Zcash (ZEC) and Monero (XMR). In the context of heightened conflict, possibly including heavy sanctions (such as those against Russia, Iran, etc.) or increased government control over financial flows, privacy-focused assets often see their profits increase.

Don’t take my word for it.

Despite the January crash that took nearly 55% of its total market capitalization, XMR is up more than 56% in the past year. The case of ZEC is even more impressive as it has increased by more than 500% during the same period.