DAG CEO Says XRP is Now the Safe Haven as Bonds React to Middle East Conflict

The CEO of DAG has suggested that $XRP may now represent the new safe haven as bonds react strangely to Middle Eastern conflicts.

The escalating Israel-Iran conflict has rattled financial markets, and the bond market is showing one of the most surprising reactions. Amid declines in bond prices, the CEO of Digital Ascension Group (DAG) says $XRP now acts as the reliable safe haven.

Key Points

• The Israel-Iran conflict has pushed the 10-year US Treasury yield to 4.15%, defying the normal pattern where geopolitical crises drive investors toward bonds.
• Surging oil prices are stoking inflation concerns that are overpowering the traditional safe-haven demand for Treasuries.
• Amid this turn of events, the CEO of DAG argued that $XRP, not Treasuries, is now the true safe haven for investors.
• Since the conflict began on Feb. 28, $XRP has gained 3.7%, outperforming gold (-3.46%), silver (-5%), and the S&P 500 (-1.2%).
• Despite its short-term resilience, $XRP remains down 23.6% year-to-date, and its recent gains may reflect the broader crypto market recovery.

Bonds’ Strange Reaction

Jake Claver, an $XRP community figure and CEO of Digital Ascension Group, made these statements while responding to Michael A. Gayed, a Chartered Financial Analyst and Portfolio Manager for the Free Markets ETF.

Notably, Gayed pointed out that the 10-year US Treasury yield has climbed to 4.15%, jumping 18 basis points in just one week. Since bond prices and yields move in opposite directions, this rise indicates that investors have begun selling bonds instead of buying them.

10Year Treasury Yields

This is a strange phenomenon. Specifically, when the economy looks shaky, investors normally pour money into US Treasuries because they consider them a safe place to park their cash.

The buying pressure pushes yields lower. But right now, the opposite is happening. Gayed emphasized that the ongoing situation breaks the playbook, indicating that the rules that investors have long relied on may no longer hold up.

Why the Conflict Is Driving Inflation Fears Instead of Safety

The Israel-Iran conflict escalated around Feb. 28, after US and Israeli strikes on Iran, which led to Iranian retaliations that dealt a blow to regional stability and raised concerns about energy supplies.

Under normal circumstances, a conflict of this scale would push more investors toward Treasuries, driving yields down. Instead, the conflict has sent oil prices higher due to fears that supply routes, particularly through the Strait of Hormuz, could face serious disruptions. These inflation worries are now stronger than the urge to seek safety in bonds.

With a spike in energy costs, broader price pressures would build across the economy, pushing investors to demand higher yields to protect themselves against inflation. This essentially forces bond prices down further.

What is emerging now looks increasingly like a stagflationary environment that makes it harder for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates without making inflation worse. The bond market is now moving through terrain it rarely encounters, and there is no simple roadmap for what comes next.

Is $XRP the New Safe Haven?

With the bond market behaving so unpredictably and suffering declining prices and rising yields, Jake Claver has argued that he believes $XRP, not Treasuries, is now the real safe haven.

$XRP is the safe haven imo not treasuries

— Jake Claver, QFOP (@beyond_broke) March 9, 2026

This is not the first time Claver has gone against the idea of traditional safe investments. In May 2025, he argued that a 100-year study shows that following the crowd into conservative investments is actually the quickest way to lose wealth. Then last September, he suggested that investors face two clear paths: hold crypto and grow their wealth, or watch fiat currency slowly eat away at it.

$XRP Performance Since the Conflict Began

Recent performances since the Israel-Iran conflict started partially support Claver’s arguments. Specifically, $XRP has gained 3.7% since the conflict started on Feb. 28, trading at $1.40 at press time, putting it ahead of several well-known assets over the same stretch.

Gold, which most people think of as the go-to safe haven, has actually fallen 3.46% to $5,181 per ounce. Silver has done even worse, dropping 5% to $88.90 per ounce. The S&P 500 has slipped 1.2%, sitting at 6,795 points. Among all the assets in this comparison, only oil has beaten $XRP, with WTI crude jumping 31% to $88 per barrel.

Despite this, calling $XRP a confirmed safe haven right now may be a stretch. Notably, $XRP is still down 23.6% for the year, which means it has underperformed every asset mentioned above when looking at the bigger picture.

Moreover, $XRP’s recent gains may have little to do with safe-haven demand and more to do with a wider crypto market recovery driven by Bitcoin, with the total global crypto market cap climbing 5.7% since the conflict began.