JPMorgan said in a recent research note that Bitcoin showed “safe-haven-like demand” as the U.S.-Iran war moved into its fourth week. The bank pointed to steady fund flows and higher on-chain activity. Over the same period, gold entered its longest losing streak since 1920, while silver ETFs faced large-scale redemptions.
War shock disrupted the usual haven trade
According to the source material, the conflict began in the first week of March 2026, when the United States and Israel launched joint airstrikes on Iran under the name “Epic Fury.” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard then closed the Strait of Hormuz, affecting about 20% of global oil supply. Brent crude rose more than 30% in a week. Equities fell and oil surged, but the standard haven response did not hold.
U.S. Treasury yields moved higher instead of lower as inflation expectations climbed with oil prices. The Japanese yen and Swiss franc showed little haven premium. Gold briefly rose above $5,300 on the first day of the war, then reversed and fell more than 17% from its March peak. Bitcoin, by contrast, traded in a range of roughly $66,000 to $75,000 through March, showing firmer price action than gold.
Bitcoin’s “digital gold” case returns inside JPMorgan
The report carries extra weight because it comes from JPMorgan, while CEO Jamie Dimon has spent years criticizing Bitcoin in public. The source notes that he called Bitcoin “a fraud” in 2017, said it had no value in 2018, described it as worthless again in 2021, and told a U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing in 2023 that “if I were the government, I’d close it down.”
Inside the bank, though, research coverage has taken a different line. The material says JPMorgan’s quantitative strategy team first used the term “digital gold” for Bitcoin in 2021 and suggested a 1% portfolio allocation. After spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved in the United States in 2024, JPMorgan became one of the large banks that offered clients access to Bitcoin ETF trading. Its blockchain platform Onyx processed more than $900 billion in transactions in 2025.
JPMorgan split Bitcoin’s war performance into two phases
The source frames Bitcoin’s March 2026 behavior in two acts. In the first week of the war, Bitcoin dropped sharply to about $63,000, showing that it could still trade like a risk asset during panic. In the third and fourth weeks, gold weakened, silver ETFs saw redemptions, and Bitcoin stabilized. That later phase is the one JPMorgan highlighted.
The bank did not argue that Bitcoin has already replaced gold. Its point was narrower: during a period of economic strain, monetary instability, and geopolitical tension, Bitcoin began to show demand patterns closer to a haven asset than many expected. The source leaves the question open from there, noting that the conflict was unresolved and the future of the Strait of Hormuz remained uncertain.