This editorial is from last week’s edition of the newsletter Week in Review. Subscribe to the newsletter to get this weekly editorial the second it’s finished. The newsletter also includes the biggest stories of the week with a comment on each story.
Key Takeaways:
Oil stubbornly reclaimed the $100 mark, while Treasuries fell again, creating a somewhat ominous mood in markets.
With attention still on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent boasted that the US has seized nearly half a billion in crypto from the country while also driving the country into a currency crisis dubbed “Operation Economic Fury.” This came following Tether’s announcement last week of the largest USDT freeze ever, which Chainalysis linked to Iran’s central bank.
Sanctions, seizures, liquidity pressure, FX instability, and payment rail control are now central tools of geopolitical force. Crypto is not outside that battlefield, but very much part of it.
