Bitcoin Just Took a $390 Million Hit: A JPMorgan Warning From April Explains Why

Bitcoin just absorbed a $390 million shock, and a warning JPMorgan issued back in April explains why. Institutions pulled that sum out of spot Bitcoin ETFs last week as oil spiked and the Strait of Hormuz stayed shut.

The Bitcoin price is holding near $63,500 despite the exit, yet the selling traces a clean line from a blocked shipping lane, through inflation, to crypto order books.

Why Is the Oil Shock Back, and Why Does Bitcoin Care?

Brent crude pushed back above $88 a barrel in the week to August 15, up more than 5%, after the US said its naval blockade of Iran could run indefinitely while talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz stayed deadlocked.

The same blockage does more than lift crude. The Middle East ships close to a quarter of the world's urea through Hormuz, and JPMorgan flagged that nitrogen fertilizer benchmarks jumped 25 to 50% after the conflict began. With the World Bank's fertilizer index near its highest since 2022, the bank saw that ripple lifting global food inflation toward 4 to 5%.

Those prices have eased from the April peak in recent weeks, but they sit far above pre-war levels, and this week's oil surge alongside renewed Hormuz attacks threatens a second leg higher.