Bitcoin consolidates as Hormuz blockade sustains inflation and miner attrition accelerates.

The US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has imposed a genuine commodity inflation shock that central banks cannot neutralize without triggering recession, while forcing Bitcoin into an explicit role in sanctions evasion as Iran demands tolls in bitcoin or yuan. This has sustained exchange outflows and self-custody accumulation amid genuine retail capitulation at a Fear and Greed reading of 23, yet produced only sideways price action near $74,000 because sticky yields near 4.26% and a firm DXY keep spot bids absent. Sophisticated capital builds positions beneath the surface and Lightning capacity has rebounded to multi-year highs, but these are overshadowed by the uncomfortable reality most investors dismiss: Bitcoin miners are in active capitulation, with hashrate down over 5% quarter-over-quarter to around 1,004 EH/s as inefficient rigs are culled and a roughly 4% difficulty drop looms for April 17, contracting the security budget exactly when geopolitical fractures highlight demand for neutral rails.^[1][2] The network is adapting through attrition rather than growth while macro conditions harden into a higher-volatility regime with gold locked above $4,800. Whether accumulated supply can absorb distressed miner selling before a break of $72,000 confirms buyer exhaustion has no clean answer in a world where policy remains pinned and real demand stays thin.