#The US-Iran Conflict Flares Again, Triggering Market Turmoil

On Monday morning, April 20, 2026, the sky in Taiyuan was just beginning to brighten. The red alert push notification from the Gate App on my phone was especially jarring: “US-Iran maritime conflict escalates, clashes in the Gulf of Oman.” I jolted upright in bed. This familiar “war premium” type of market was just like what happened back in 2019.

The Tearing Apart of Hedging and Panic

The candlestick chart on the screen was jumping violently. Driven by the impact of expectations of the Strait of Hormuz being blocked, WTI crude oil surged more than 7% at the open, approaching the $90 mark. Meanwhile, risk assets were in full wailing mode: US stock futures plunged, and Bitcoin quickly dropped from its high of $78k to around $74k. On Gate’s liquidation monitoring screen, in just a few short hours, more than 160,000 traders were wiped out amid intense two-way volatility.

“Muscle Memory” of a 2016 Veteran

As a long-time Gate user who has been here since 2016, I had long been used to this kind of “news-driven market” playbook. Unlike a newcomer who would rush to chase shorts or catch bottoms, I quickly did three things:

Reduce Leverage: Immediately adjusted the contract leverage from its previous multiples down to a conservative level to prevent liquidation from spike-like “needles.”

Convert to Spot: Swapped some of my higher-risk altcoins back into stablecoins, keeping my “ammo.”

Watch Gold: On Gate’s market page, gold and the US dollar index are the best barometers of the direction of the market right now.

Sure enough, around midday, Iran released news about “preparing for retaliation,” and the market again saw panic-driven selloffs. But because I had reduced my positions early, the pullback in my account’s net asset value was kept within a safe range. Gate’s official risk warning also rolled out in a timely manner, advising users to pay attention to the margin ratio—exactly matching what I, an old hand, was doing.

The Cycle of History and Growth

Looking at the positions in my account that had survived through bull and bear markets, I thought back to when I first entered the crypto world in 2016. Back then, whenever I saw news like this, I would just YOLO without thinking—only to end up being taught a lesson by the market. Now, after a decade on Gate, I’ve learned not only trading skills, but also how, in the face of geopolitical black swans, to protect myself by using platform tools (such as limit orders and alerts).

The gunfire between the US and Iran may rattle the market for a few more days, but for me, this is only another slice of a cycle in the crypto world that requires staying calm to get through. A true long-term believer never treats the fate of a country as a bet; instead, they view it as a test of one’s risk-control capabilities.