Operation Epic Fury Shakes Markets, Bitcoin Recovers in Hours

The US and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran over the weekend, marking the most significant military escalation since the Ukraine invasion. Gulf States intercepted over 1,500 Iranian missiles and drones. Oil surged past $79 on Strait of Hormuz disruption fears, with JPMorgan mapping a path to $120 per barrel. Crypto markets saw $358 million in liquidations as Bitcoin posted its 5th consecutive red month, but showed resilience by recovering a 4% dump within hours of the strikes. Meanwhile, Europe is buying the Bitcoin dip ($59M in inflows) while US funds continue bleeding ($347M in outflows). River's 2026 Adoption Report reveals the biggest ownership shift in Bitcoin history: institutions absorbed nearly 1 million BTC while retail sold 696,000. New research shows LLMs can de-anonymize pseudonymous users across platforms with alarming accuracy. US banks are sitting on $306 billion in unrealized losses. Plus: FATF targets P2P transactions and DeFi, California's age verification law geo-blocks an open-source calculator, and Rust multi-platform development hits a milestone for Bitcoin app builders.