Gold sank and oil surged on Friday as tensions over Iran flared again. Through it all, XRP, the token crypto traders call the 'banker coin,' held its ground. U.S. President Donald Trump said
Gold sank and oil surged on Friday as tensions over Iran flared again. Through it all, XRP, the token crypto traders call the 'banker coin,' held its ground.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Washington was "not negotiating" with Iran and that something would happen "fairly soon." Reports have since said U.S. and Israeli militaries have prepared plans for possible renewed strikes on Iran after the midterm elections in November.
Oil prices climbed sharply on Friday as traders priced in renewed supply risks. Brent crude rose above $116 a barrel, while WTI traded near $103, with Houthi attacks on Saudi targets and Iranian military-readiness comments adding to the pressure.
Normally, geopolitical stress pushes investors toward traditional havens such as gold. Friday's market looked different.
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Gold fell below $4,000 an ounce, while silver traded near $54, even as crude oil surged.
Gold is traditionally viewed as a safe haven because it is scarce, highly liquid and carries no credit risk. Investors often turn to it when confidence in currencies, governments or financial markets weakens.
But higher oil prices can feed inflation. That in turn can make central banks less willing to cut interest rates, which hurts gold because the metal does not pay interest.
"Heightened inflation concerns suggest that major central banks of the world won't be able to ease monetary policies as quickly as they want to," Reuters quoted American Gold Exchange analyst Jim Wyckoff as saying. "All that's working against the gold and silver market bulls at present."
Gold was heading for its steepest weekly decline since June, while silver was also on track for a weekly loss on Friday.
Wyckoff also said margin calls from the technology-stock selloff were prompting some investors to sell gold and silver to raise cash.
Billionaire Tim Draper Says Gold Belongs to the Past as Bitcoin Could Become Global Money (6:06)Crypto markets were comparatively steady during the same window. Bitcointraded around $81,600, up roughly 0.4% on Friday, while XRP traded near $1.31, also slightly higher. Ether, BNB and Solana posted modest gains as well.
That resilience is notable because rising oil prices and renewed geopolitical risk would normally be a difficult backdrop for crypto. Higher inflation expectations can support higher interest rates and push investors to cut exposure to risk assets.
The crypto market, however, has not entirely escaped broader weakness. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $635.6 million in net outflows on Thursday, led by $254.1 million from BlackRock's IBIT and $217.5 million from Fidelity's FBTC, according to Farside Investors.
Those withdrawals came just one day after the same funds attracted $524.8 million, showing a sharp reversal rather than a sustained investor exit.
XRP's nickname comes from Ripple, the payments company that has spent years pitching banks and payment firms on moving money across borders with its technology. Ripple promotes XRP as a bridge currency for those transfers.
In that setup, money is converted into XRP, sent across the XRP Ledger within seconds, and converted into the destination currency on the other side. The idea is to spare banks from holding pre-funded accounts in foreign currencies.
The "banker coin" label is informal, not an official designation, and it comes with a caveat worth spelling out. A bank using Ripple's software does not necessarily use XRP itself, since much of what Ripple sells to financial institutions works without the token.
That distinction matters on a day like Friday. XRP's steadiness does not mean banks were buying the token during the oil spike. While gold, the classic haven, fell, one of crypto's most established payment tokens was slightly higher.
For now, oil, precious metals and crypto are moving in different directions. XRP cannot be hailed as a new safe haven just yet, but Friday showed that renewed geopolitical stress is not pushing every major asset the same way.'
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