Gold fell 7.2% to $4,551, and silver dropped 13.9% to $66.93. On the 20th day of the Middle East war, safe-haven assets are collapsing instead of rising. A stronger dollar, inflation expectations, and liquidity tightening are redefining the meaning of 'safety'.
1| Gold Plunges 7%, Silver Crashes 14%, Safe-Haven Logic Fails During War
Gold fell by $310 to $4,551/ounce (-7.2%), while silver plummeted from $77.77 to $66.93 (-13.9%). This marks the sixth consecutive day of decline for gold, the longest losing streak since late 2024. The usual logic is that war drives up safe-haven assets, but this round is different. A stronger dollar index (DXY +0.4%), rising U.S. Treasury yields, and inflation expectations driven by oil price shocks have dashed hopes for a dovish pivot from the Fed. Funds are flowing out of precious metals and into dollar cash. In early February, the CME raised gold margins from 6% to 8% and silver margins from 11% to 15%, continuously squeezing out leveraged long positions. On the surface, it's a gold and silver crash; at its core, when inflation and war occur simultaneously, the pricing power of safe-haven assets shifts from fear to interest rates.
(Source: Fortune / CNBC / 24/7 Wall St.)
2| Israel Strikes World's Largest Gas Field, Iran Begins Naming and Bombing Gulf Energy Facilities
Israel, in coordination with the U.S., struck Iran's South Pars gas field. This is no ordinary military target. South Pars shares the same geological structure as Qatar's North Field, which supplies 20% of the world's LNG. WTI crude oil rose above $97, while Dubai crude broke through $150 to hit a record high. Iran immediately published a target list, naming Saudi Aramco's Samref refinery, the Jubail petrochemical complex, and the UAE's Al Hosn gas field. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Kuwait all reported attacks. The IEA released a record 400 million barrels from emergency reserves, and the U.S. added 172 million barrels from the SPR, but these measures had almost no effect on prices. The war is escalating from blockading shipping lanes to destroying production capacity, and the global energy reserve system is almost powerless to stop it.
(Source: Fortune / Al Jazeera / CNBC)
3| Pentagon Officially Counters, Defining Anthropic's Safety Red Lines as a 'National Security Risk'
The Department of Defense submitted a 40-page rebuttal in a California federal court, arguing that Anthropic might 'attempt to disable its technology or preemptively modify model behavior' during 'combat operations'. The morning brief covered an amicus brief from 150 retired judges supporting Anthropic. The new development tonight is the Pentagon's formal response, which reframes an AI company's ethical stance as a supply chain risk. In the same week, the Pentagon signed contracts with OpenAI and xAI. A hearing on March 24th will address a previously unprecedented question: can an AI supplier set conditions for military use, or does the military have the right to demand unconditional access.
(Source: TechCrunch / Washington Examiner)
4| Crypto.com Lays Off 12% of Staff, Crypto Industry Begins Replacing Labor with AI
Crypto.com announced it is cutting about 180 jobs, roughly 12% of its workforce. The CEO stated that roles not suited for 'our new world' will be eliminated. This is not an isolated case. Over the past two weeks, Block (Jack Dorsey) laid off nearly 40% of its staff and announced a full shift to AI, while Gemini cut 25% of its workforce. On the surface, this is cost optimization during an industry downturn. At its core, crypto exchanges are shifting from a 'hire-to-expand' model to an 'AI replacement + lean core team' model. It's not just边缘 roles being cut, but entire middle layers. When three leading exchanges use the same reason for layoffs simultaneously, it's no longer an individual company's choice but a structural turning point for the industry.
(Source: Bloomberg)
5| U.S. Stocks Plunge for Second Consecutive Day, Triple Pressures Tighten Simultaneously
The S&P 500 fell to 6,588 (-0.55%), the Dow Jones dropped to 45,902 (-0.70%), and the Nasdaq declined 0.73%. European losses were steeper, with Germany's DAX down 3% and the Stoxx 600 down 2.76%. Over two days, the Dow has lost over 1,200 points. The selling pressure doesn't stem from a single event but from three lines tightening at once. A hawkish Fed (rates held at 3.50%-3.75%, dot plot split 7:7) dashed rate cut expectations. The oil price shock (WTI $97, Dubai $150) pushed inflation expectations higher. PPI at 0.7% (double the expectation) confirmed that supply-side inflation is accelerating. On the surface, markets are falling; at its core, three pressures that don't usually appear simultaneously are叠加, leaving funds with no safe place to go.
(Source: 24/7 Wall St. / Yahoo Finance)
Also Worth Knowing ↓
Bank of Japan keeps rates unchanged, raises inflation risk assessment to 'upside'. The BOJ listed the energy shock from the Iran war as a key uncertainty. Major global central banks collectively chose to stand pat this week (Fed, BOJ), waiting for the transmission path of the oil price shock to become clear. (Source: CNBC)
Apple's Gemini-powered Siri overhaul targets release this month with iOS 26.4. Apple pays Google about $1 billion annually to use the 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini model, white-labeling the integration so users won't see the Google brand. Apple's choice to abandon in-house development and directly procure a model externally is a signal of industry specialization. (Source: CNBC / TechCrunch)
U.S. gasoline prices rise $0.80 in a month, diesel nears $5/gallon. The energy shock is transmitting from financial markets to the consumer end, combined with Powell's 'inflation is not as expected' statement, adding another link to the stagflation narrative's evidence chain. (Source: NPR / AAA)
