The US military launched targeted strikes against Iranian military infrastructure on June 26, one day after Iran sent drones at a cargo ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The tit-for-tat exchange shattered a ceasefire that was barely a week old, and both sides are already pointing fingers at who broke it first.
For crypto investors, the playbook here is familiar and unpleasant. Prior US-Iran confrontations in 2026 triggered immediate selloffs in Bitcoin and broader digital asset markets, with estimated losses exceeding $80 billion in crypto market capitalization during earlier episodes of escalation.
What happened in the Strait of Hormuz
On June 25, the Iranian military launched a one-way drone attack on the M/V Ever Lovely, a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel sailing through the Strait of Hormuz. Reports indicate up to four drones were used in the strike. The ship sustained damage but there were no casualties.
US Central Command responded the following day with strikes targeting Iranian missile and drone storage facilities along with coastal radar positions. The operation was framed as a proportional response to an unprovoked attack on commercial shipping.
