The escalation of the war in West Asia following the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the joint U.S.-Israel military offensive is already sending shockwaves through the markets.
With the Strait of Hormuz reportedly closed, oil prices reflected a significant surge.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the crude oil benchmark in North America, rose more than 8% today to trade at $72.80 per barrel at the time of writing.
Brent Crude, the global oil benchmark, surged more than 9% today to trade at $79.45 per barrel at press time.
Gold’s price rose more than 2% to trade at $5,386.85 per ounce and silver’s price rose nearly 1.5% to $95.05 per ounce.
Related: Khamenei dead, 75% chance Iran names new Supreme Leader by March 31
Reacting to the latest development, the “Rich Dad Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki reiterated his bullish outlook on the precious metals.
A long-time critic of central banks and printing of fiat currency, Kiyosaki claims to a believer in the accumulation of assets that generate returns in the long run.
In an X post, Kiyosaki praised the surge in gold’s daily price and asked his social media followers to hang on as he thinks silver and Bitcoin (BTC) are about to “blast off.”
A surge in oil prices is directly proportional to the surge in inflation. In such a scenario, it’s hardly surprising to see traders flocking to safe assets like precious metals that are considered to be a hedge against inflation and U.S. dollar debasement.
While gold and silver prices have indeed soared, Bitcoin has so far again failed to live up to its reputation as “digital gold.”
At best, BTC surged past the $67,700 price mark in the late hours of Feb. 28 but didn’t consolidate the gains any further. Over the last 24 hours, the cryptocurrency has lost 0.7% of its value and was exchanging hands at $65,873.14 at press time.
It’s worse for Ethereum (ETH)—another cryptocurrency Kiyosaki frequently recommends. Similar to BTC, ETH surged past the $2,000 price mark in the late hours of Feb. 28 but again fell. It has declined approximately 2.5% over the last 24 hours and was trading at $1,933.64 at press time.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
