Hormuz Blockade Forces Kuwait, UAE to Slash Oil Output

Posted on March 9, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates began cutting back on oil production because of the impending closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz, which impacted global supply and energy markets. Abu Dhabi National Oil stated in a statement that it is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements.

Petroleum Kuwait Corp. claimed that due to “Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” it was reducing production at both its refineries and oil fields. Due to Iranian threats to shipping, the Middle East war has virtually shut down Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open seas.

This has hindered exports from the world’s largest oil-producing region and contributed to London’s prices closing at nearly $93 per barrel, the highest level in over two years. As a result, consumers are looking for alternatives, which could lead to an increase in global inflation.

Kuwait’s oil cutback began with roughly 100,000 barrels per day as of early Saturday and is anticipated to nearly triple on Sunday, with further gradual reductions depending on storage levels and the status of Hormuz. As the third-largest producer in OPEC, the UAE pumped over 3.5 million barrels per day in January.

It uses export capacity that avoids the Strait of Hormuz and its international storage facilities to guarantee supply to international markets. Adnoc runs a 1.5 million barrel-per-day pipeline to Fujairah on the western coast of the United Arab Emirates. According to Adnoc, its onshore operations are carrying on as usual.

The two OPEC members’ cutbacks come after several others in the area. Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia closed its largest refinery, Qatar closed the largest liquefied natural gas plant, and Iraq began to reduce production as storage tanks began to fill up.

Strategy plans Bitcoin Buy as BTC Dips Amid US-Iran Tensions

Posted on March 9, 2026March 9, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Michael Saylor shared a cryptic post suggesting that Strategy may be preparing for its 101st Bitcoin purchase.

Saylor shared Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation chart, which shows the company’s purchases since August 2020, as is frequently the case with his posts. He wrote on X, “The Second Century Begins.” Strategy currently has 720,737 Bitcoin, which is worth more than $48.7 billion.

The last purchase took place on February 23 and March 1, when it purchased 3,015 BTC at an average cost of $67,700 each.

Additionally, this batch represented the company’s 100th Bitcoin purchase. Bitcoin has repeatedly lost this crucial psychological support area, which has now become a resistance level, and has struggled above the $70,000 mark. The most recent factor affecting risk sentiment in cryptocurrency markets is the tensions between the US and Iran.

Bitcoin traded around $67K, which puts it below Strategy’s average purchase cost of roughly $76K.

The stock is currently trading at a discount to its underlying BTC treasury because Strategy’s basic NAV, which calculates the value of its Bitcoin holdings to its market capitalization, was slightly less than 1. Some investors were cautious since the company has continued to finance its Bitcoin accumulation strategy through debt and equity financing, as evidenced by the roughly 4.5 percent decline in strategy shares on March 6.

Ripple Expresses Strong Optimism for XRP Despite Market Undervaluation

Posted on March 9, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, has expressed optimism about XRP’s long-term prospects, suggesting that the asset’s potential was not accurately reflected by the current state of the market.

Garlinghouse publicly questioned why XRP and the larger cryptocurrency market have been subject to such intense selling pressure.

He stressed that the sector’s overall outlook was favorable while acknowledging that investors have been irritated by recent price changes. “To be honest, I don’t understand why some of that is happening,” Garlinghouse remarked. “Because I believe we’re positioned to have an extremely successful year.”.

His remarks are consistent with the view held by many industry players that market prices frequently lag behind institutional and technological advancements within the blockchain ecosystem. Growing institutional involvement, according to Garlinghouse, is a key element that could influence XRP’s future performance.

He claimed that years of regulatory ambiguity had built up demand, which is only now starting to show. A higher degree of financial adoption is demonstrated by the use of ETFs as collateral. Securities and financial instruments are widely used by institutions in traditional finance to manage liquidity and obtain loans. In this context, the emergence of XRP-linked products indicates that digital assets are gradually becoming part of the mainstream financial infrastructure.

Gold Slides Below $5,100 as Surging Crude Stokes Fed Rate-Hike Worries

Posted on March 9, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Bullion has been under pressure as rising crude prices fuel US concerns about inflation, increasing the possibility that the Federal Reserve will either raise or keep interest rates unchanged for an extended period of time. Since precious metals don’t pay interest, higher borrowing costs and a stronger dollar are usually detrimental.

Bullion dropped as much as 3% to roughly $5,015 per ounce following its first weekly decline in more than a month before reducing some losses. Major oil and gas producers in the Persian Gulf region cut back on production as the US-Israeli war with Iran showed no signs of ending, and the dollar strengthened relative to all of its main rivals.

A gauge of the US dollar rose by as much as 0.7%. The gold drop “is the inflation monster flexing the dollar,” according to Hebe Chen, an analyst at Vantage Markets in Melbourne.

A $100 oil price tag has caused the energy shock, inflation expectations, a stronger dollar, and weaker gold.

Additionally, gold has provided liquidity during a worsening decline in global stock prices. “Investors occasionally sell assets like gold to raise cash during periods of geopolitically driven market stress,” stated Christopher Wong, a strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.

Gold has gained about 18% so far this year despite erratic trading and stagnant upward momentum. Safer assets have been largely encouraged by US President Donald Trump’s disruption of international trade and geopolitics, as well as threats to the Fed’s independence.

Gold fell as the Middle East conflict dragged into a second week and oil prices hit $120 per barrel amid pressure from a stronger US dollar and concerns about rising interest rates.

Iran Conflict Drives Oil to Near $120/Barrel in Massive Supply Shock

Posted on March 9, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Oil prices surged as much as 30% in Asian trade on Monday, reaching levels last seen in 2022, as concerns about supply disruptions in the coming months grew due to the intensifying conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran.

Brent oil futures for May surged more than 25 percent to a peak of $117.16 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose as much as 30 percent to an intraday high of $118.82 per barrel.

The conflict between Israel and Iran escalated for the first time since it began in early March over the weekend when airstrikes targeted Iran’s oil facilities in Tehran and the province of Alborz. The tenth consecutive day of the conflict began on Monday.

Iran earlier attacked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for roughly 20% of the world’s oil consumption. Lane disruptions had been a major source of concern for the oil markets.

Major producers are cutting output as storage fills up due to the unprecedented disruption caused by the war in Iran, and the most important waterway for the global energy markets is still essentially closed.

Consequently, it is anticipated that the oil markets will be even more chaotic on Monday. Along with Iraq, whose output has now dropped by about 60%, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have already started reducing oil production as storage runs out. Oil tankers may be forced to follow as they continue to avoid the narrow Strait of Hormuz, rapidly reducing the number of empty tankers available for loading. After all the vessels are taken, the remaining on-land storage in the area will fill even faster.

The upheaval, which is currently in its ninth day, shows no signs of resolution, making a waterway that normally handles a fifth of the world’s oil impassable. Saudi Arabia is moving record amounts of crude to its country in an attempt to ease some of the pressure.

Oracle, OpenAI Cancel Plans to Expand Flagship Texas AI Data Center

Posted on March 9, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Oracle and OpenAI have abandoned plans to build a flagship AI data center in Texas because of protracted negotiations over funding and OpenAI’s evolving requirements.

Cloud Costs, Weak Rebound, and Mounting Skepticism Keep Oracle Subdued

The breakdown of the negotiations gave Meta Platforms Inc. a chance. to intervene and consider renting developer Crusoe’s proposed expansion site in Abilene, Texas, according to people familiar with the situation. NVIDIA Corp. The top AI chipmaker assisted in facilitating Meta’s conversations with the developer, according to the people who wished to remain anonymous due to the confidential nature of the discussions.

The changing plans highlight how difficult it will be to construct AI data centers, anticipated to cost tens of billions of dollars and necessitate collaboration from numerous partners.

The widely reported Stargate project was unveiled at the White House last year alongside President Donald Trump, which includes the campus that Crusoe is building in Abilene.

Oracle and OpenAI decided against moving forward with their tentative plans to lease a sizable expansion, even though the 1,000-acre site is still under construction and some of its components are operational. At the Stargate site, Nvidia’s AI semiconductors are being used by Oracle and OpenAI.

NVIDIA got involved when Crusoe was looking for a tenant to guarantee that its products would still occupy the enlarged data center rather than those of competitor Advanced Micro Devices Inc. The people said. According to the people, Nvidia started courting Meta as a tenant for the expansion after paying Crusoe a $150 million deposit.

Oracle is committed to building 4.5 gigawatts of data center capacity for OpenAI. The companies have announced several projects in other locations, including one owned by Related Digital near Detroit, and the deal is still on track.

Kuwait, UAE Begin Oil Production Cuts Amid Strait of Hormuz Shutdown

Posted on March 8, 2026March 8, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Silver Clings to Gains as Iran Middle East Conflict Rages On

Posted on March 8, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Silver (XAG/USD) continues to rise in the early Asian session on Friday, hovering around $82. White metal is boosted by the ongoing US-Israeli campaign against Iran, which offers safe-haven support. In search of new motivation, traders await the release of the important US employment report for February.

Iran launched a new round of missile and drone attacks throughout the Gulf on Thursday, with attacks reported in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. US President Donald

Trump claimed that Iranian officials had contacted him in an effort to come to an end to the conflict, but he maintained that it was too late and that the US was working to destroy Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, declared that his nation had not asked for a ceasefire and had no plans to engage in negotiations. In the short term, a safe-haven asset like silver may benefit from growing tensions between the US and Iran as well as worries about a protracted conflict in the Middle East.

Silver is still in a long-term bullish trend after surpassing its 1980 peak of $50.36 per ounce in 2025.

Industrial and speculative demand for silver has skyrocketed. According to the Silver Institute, demand will exceed supply in 2025, resulting in a 117.70 million-ounce deficit. When the price of silver reached a new record high in 2025, it attracted significant buying interest because it is a highly speculative metal.

Silver Institute projected silver demand to stay “largely unchanged in 2026, as healthy gains in retail investment are likely to offset most of the losses across other key demand segments, notably in jewelry, silverware, and industrial demand.”

A weak US dollar and the likelihood of declining U.S. interest rates have been positive for silver prices.

Morgan Stanley’s Crypto Charter Bombshell – Epic Boost for XRP as TradFi Embraces Ripple Tech

Posted on March 7, 2026March 7, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Morgan Stanley’s most recent regulatory filing drew attention from cryptocurrency market analyst Pumpius, who characterizes it as a significant signal for Ripple and XRP as traditional finance expands its involvement with digital assets.

He claimed in a recent post that the Wall Street organization’s choice to go for a federally regulated digital trust is similar to the compliance route Ripple took months earlier, bringing XRP’s institutional story back into focus.

Morgan Stanley has applied for a national trust bank charter to establish Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, a structure that would enable the company to custody digital assets under federal supervision.

Large institutions look for structured exposure to blockchain-based assets, and this move puts the bank in a stronger position within the regulated crypto custody market.

This filing gives Ripple the go-ahead based on regulatory alignment rather than a direct endorsement. Ripple established a digital asset custody vehicle under federal supervision in late 2025 when it received conditional approval for Ripple National Trust Bank.

Morgan Stanley is now supporting the broader trend toward compliance-driven infrastructure through similar initiatives. Morgan Stanley’s advisory framework, which oversees trillions of client assets across wealth and institutional divisions, would naturally benefit from the addition of digital custody services.

A national trust charter would formalize the bank’s ability to safeguard digital holdings in compliance with federal regulations if approved by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Oracle’s AI Ambition Turns Bloody: Thousands of Jobs on the Chopping Block

Posted on March 7, 2026March 7, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Oracle plans to eliminate thousands of jobs as part of its efforts to address a cash crunch stemming from a massive AI data center expansion. The job reductions could be implemented as soon as this month and will impact divisions throughout the company.

Some of the cuts will target job categories the company anticipates needing fewer of because of AI. Under the direction of Chairman Larry Ellison, Oracle is starting a historic data center expansion to support AI workloads for clients like OpenAI.

The company, known for its database software, has been expanding its cloud computing division in recent years with an emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI) in an effort to challenge market leader Amazon. Com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

Wall Street predicts that Oracle’s cash flow will be negatively impacted by the cloud unit’s data center expenditures in the upcoming years, before the expenditures start to pay off in 2030.

Oracle announced last month that it would use a combination of debt and equity sales to raise to $50 billion this year.

The planned reductions are anticipated to be more extensive than the company’s usual rolling job cuts. According to people with knowledge of the move, Oracle announced internally this week that it would review many of the open job listings in its cloud division, thereby freezing the hiring process.

The company employed roughly 162,000 people worldwide. According to the people, preparations for the workforce reductions are still ongoing and may change. Investors responded favorably to Oracle’s early efforts as an AI cloud provider, and the stock increased 20 percent last year and 61 percent in 2024.