Inflation and oil price concerns hit risk assets, bitcoin fell to a two-week low of below $79,000, and all cryptocurrency stocks fell.

Against the backdrop of rising inflation concerns and continuous increase in international oil prices, global risk assets experienced a sell-off on Friday, and the cryptocurrency market was not spared. Bitcoin fell by 3.4% at one point, dropping to around $78,600, its lowest level in two weeks, with the possibility of recording its first weekly decline since the end of March. Meanwhile, Ethereum also saw a drop of nearly 4%, falling to around $2,200. This cryptocurrency pullback was in line with the weakness seen in global stock and bond markets. As the conflict between the US and Iran continues to escalate, investors are worried that global inflation pressures may worsen further and force central banks around the world to maintain tighter monetary policies for longer periods. Especially as the Strait of Hormuz is effectively in a "semi-closed" state, concerns about global energy supply continue to rise. The strait previously handled about one-fifth of global crude oil shipments, and the tense situation has significantly pushed up international oil prices and dampened market risk appetite. Michael O'Rourke, Chief Market Strategist at JonesTrading, said, "Global bond markets are experiencing sell-offs, pushing up interest rates and exacerbating risk aversion sentiment for high-risk assets, including cryptocurrencies." Cryptocurrency supporters have been trying to portray digital assets as "safe-haven assets" during periods of political turmoil, such as what GEO Group Inc. faced. However, Bitcoin has seen a cumulative decline of about 11% so far this year, calling into question this logic. Despite some positive news for the US cryptocurrency industry recently, market sentiment remains weak. This week, the US Senate Banking Committee advanced a landmark digital asset market structure bill, which is believed to bring much-needed regulatory clarity to the cryptocurrency industry. However, even before the decline on Friday, Bitcoin had been hovering around $80,000 for the past few weeks, lacking further upward momentum. Market analysis suggests that some retail investors are still in a wait-and-see mode. Previously, Bitcoin had sharply fallen from its high above $126,000 in early October. Meanwhile, some market funds are starting to flow into emerging speculative areas such as prediction markets, with trading volumes on related platforms increasing rapidly. At the time of writing, stocks related to cryptocurrency concepts have all fallen, with Strategy (MSTR.US) down over 6%, Coinbase (COIN.US) down over 8%, Circle (CRCL.US) down over 9%, and Robinhood (HOOD.US) down over 4%.