On May 18, markets are staring at starting the week in the red.
Reports over the weekend suggested the United States and Israel may resume military action against Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tehran to “better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” as peace talks remain stalled. Moreover, the latest inflation data revealed last week has all but ruled out a near-term Fed rate cut.
U.S. inflation climbed to 3.8% in April, its highest reading since May 2023 and above the 3.7% forecast, up from 3.3% in March. The acceleration is largely being driven by the oil shock stemming from the conflict with Iran.
Iran has also announced a new body on Monday, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, that will provide live updates on operations and developments in the Strait of Hormuz.
Reportedly, it is also planning a Bitcoin-backed insurance scheme for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to semi-official news agency Fars, citing documents from the country’s Ministry of Economy and Financial Affairs.
The service, called Hormuz Safe, could bring in more than $10 billion in revenue for Iran, though Fars provided no timeline or details on how the scheme would operate.
Related: US national debt surges to $38 trillion as Iran war shadows FOMC decision
Bitcoin fails to maintain momentum
Just last week, Bitcoin (BTC) had moved past $82,000, thanks to the CLARITY Act passing the Senate Banking Committee vote.
However, over the weekend, all gains were wiped clean.
Bitcoin weakened to its lowest level in more than two weeks as traders cut back their positions amid broader macro risk. In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin fell 1.3% to $,$76,981.
Ethereum (ETH) dropped harder, shedding 1.89% to trade at $2,152. Solana (SOL) fell 1.54% to $85.48, while XRP (XRP) dropped 1.88% to $1.3976.
Among the stablecoins, USDT by Tether held its peg at $0.9995, barely off by 0.01%, with a 7.35% dominance share. USDC by Circle (NYSE: CRCL) similarly stayed anchored at $0.9999.
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According to CoinGlass data, over the past 24 hours, 115,632 traders were liquidated. About $620.04 million in long and $85.47 million in short were wiped out, with the total liquidations coming in at $705.54 million.
Crypto stocks were also largely flat, with Strategy Inc (NASDAQ: MSTR) dropping 3.45% during pre-market hours on Monday. This came amid news that the Bitcoin treasury giant bought 24,869 Bitcoin between May 11 and 17 at an average price of roughly $81,000 per coin, bringing its total holdings to 843,738 BTC, around 4% of Bitcoin’s total supply.
Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and Circle were also down more than 1% during pre-market hours.
Related: Markets surge as Clarity Act clears Senate committee in landmark 15-9 vote
This story was originally published by TheStreet on May 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.