Houthi missile strikes on Saudi Aramco refineries sent Brent to $100 before it settled in the $89-90 range, dragging Bitcoin and XRP lower on risk-off sentiment.
Alpha Score of 43 reflects weak overall profile with weak momentum, poor value, weak quality, moderate sentiment.
Missile attacks on two Saudi Aramco refinery complexes sent Brent crude to $100 a barrel and dragged crypto markets lower on July 25. Yemen's Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the strikes on facilities in Jizan and Yanbu. They were the first direct assault on Saudi oil infrastructure in four years.
Brent surged to $100 in the immediate aftermath, capping a roughly 40% climb over July alone. The benchmark later pulled back to the $89 to $90 range. Bitcoin and XRP both declined on the session, several traders said, as the broader risk-off move swept digital assets.
The refinery attacks followed a series of escalating Houthi actions. On July 20, the group announced a naval blockade targeting Saudi shipping. Two days later, they claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, the Encelia and the Layla. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, at the southern end of the Red Sea, carries roughly 10% of global seaborne trade. The Houthis demonstrated in late 2023 that they can make shipping through that corridor expensive and unpredictable. Their drone and missile campaign against commercial vessels forced major lines to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, adding weeks and significant cost to global supply chains.
No casualties from the July 25 strikes have been confirmed. The physical damage to Aramco infrastructure has not been publicly detailed.
The stabilization of Brent in the $89 to $90 range after the $100 spike suggests markets are not yet pricing in a full supply disruption, traders said. Yanbu, on the Red Sea coast, is one of Saudi Arabia's largest refinery and petrochemical hubs. Jizan sits further south, closer to the Yemeni border, and its refinery serves both domestic demand and export flows. Strikes on both in a single claimed operation signal that the Houthis are targeting infrastructure diversity, not just symbolic value.
The Houthis have a documented history of using cryptocurrency to finance operations and circumvent sanctions. The U.S. Treasury and allied regulators have previously flagged crypto-based fundraising networks tied to the group. No specific tokens have been directly linked to the July 2026 campaign in available reporting.
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