Oil prices fell as cryptocurrencies rallied on Monday after US President Donald Trump told reporters that war with Iran could be over – though he later ramped up war rhetoric on social media.
In a telephone interview with CBS News on Monday, Trump said the war in Iran is coming to an end. The US military claims to have hit more than 3,000 Iranian targets in the first week of the operation.
“I think the war is very complete,” Donald Trump told CBS News. “If you see, they have nothing left, nothing left in the military sense,” he added.
The comments saw oil prices fall 28% from a four-year high of $118 on Monday to around $85 in the after hours, according to OilPrice.
However, in his latest message on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump ramped up the rhetoric of war again, saying that “If Iran does anything to stop the flow of oil in the Strait of Hormuz, the United States of America will be hit twenty times harder than it has been hit so far.”
“Furthermore, we will remove easily destroyed targets that will make it impossible for Iran to recover as a nation,” the president said.
“Death, fire, and fury will reign over them – But I hope and pray it won’t!”
Trump’s remarks at a Republican congressional fundraiser in Florida also hinted that the war is still on.
“We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” Trump said. “We are pressing forward with more determination than ever to win the final victory that will end this long-standing menace once and for all.”
Crypto follows other risk assets
Crypto markets are up 3.1% over the past 24 hours, with Bitcoin (BTC) retracing $70,000 and Ether (ETH) at just over $2,000 at the time of writing.
Augustine Fan, partner and head of insights at crypto trading software service provider SignalPlus, told Cointelegraph that in general “it’s hard to take these headline comments at face value, especially with other members of his (Trump’s) cabinet saying things are still in the early stages and that US military assets are deployed in the region.”
“Crypto prices will follow other risk assets in the near future without their fundamental description, and macro leadership will still continue to be driven by oil, which has seen a +$30 swing in just 24 hours.”
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“We don’t expect the conflict to be resolved anytime soon,” he said, adding that “we expect trade deposits and BTC to perform relatively better as a potential store of value in these times.”
The potential for long-term uncertainty remains
Meanwhile, Andri Fauzan Adziima, head of research at Bitrue, told Cointelegraph that if Trump’s claims that the Iran war is almost over prove to be true, “I expect a strong rally in crypto support, driven by lower oil prices, lower inflation/geopolitical fears, and renewed appetite.”
However, “doubts remain amid mixed signals from Iran and the possibility of prolonged uncertainty,” he said.
According to reports, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard responded to Trump that his statement was “nonsense” and that “we will determine the end of the war.”
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