Here’s how things are connected: The Strait of Hormuz handles about 20% of the world’s oil shipments. Even the possibility of it reopening – even with conditions – instantly lowers the extra cost built into oil prices due to supply worries. We saw oil prices drop when this happened. Lower oil prices ease the immediate pressure from inflation, which has been causing investors to favor safer investments. This then allows money to move from those safe investments into things like stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin jumped above $78,000, and Ethereum surpassed $2,300. The recent crypto market gains weren’t a direct reaction to events in Iran, but rather to the impact of lower oil prices on the cost of holding riskier investments.