Direct Impact of the War: Energy prices surge due to supply risks, cryptocurrencies benefit from their "non-traditional safe haven" attribute, while traditional stocks and precious metals face pressure.

Since the US-Iran conflict on February 28, 2026:
This chart is very typical and can be compared with the relative performance of core assets under geopolitical shocks, with the benchmark being the S&P 500.
1️⃣1. The Clear Winners: Energy + Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin outperformed the market and gold early in the conflict, which is uncommon in previous geopolitical crises.
MSCI World Energy leads, with a +13.0% increase relative to the S&P 500.
Ethereum +11.3%,
Energy sector +10.8%,
Bitcoin +7.0%.
The Iran conflict directly threatens the Strait of Hormuz (a key global oil shipping route), causing oil and energy prices to soar, with energy stocks and related assets surging.
Cryptocurrencies (especially BTC and ETH) performed remarkably well during this crisis, outperforming traditional safe havens gold (-7.1%) and silver (-9.6%).
This suggests the market views cryptocurrencies as "digital gold" or a "safe haven/growth hedge" among risk assets, rather than purely a safe haven tool.
2️⃣ Technology and communication services also performed relatively strongly.
3️⃣ Clear losers:
1) Korea’s KOSPI: -17.8% (possibly due to Korea’s export-driven economy + geopolitical risk sensitivity).
2) Silver -9.6%, Gold -7.1% (traditional safe assets did not serve as safe havens this time, instead energy and crypto stole the spotlight).
3) Many MSCI World sectors declined, especially real estate, industrials, and materials.
In summary: During the early stages of the Iran conflict, the market voted with its feet: energy and crypto were the biggest winners, while traditional safe havens (gold and silver) and cyclical/defensive sectors were the losers.
Investors’ pricing logic for geopolitical risks: favor assets that directly benefit from energy crises or are viewed as "digital hard assets," rather than classic bonds, gold, or defensive stocks.