⚔ Geopolitics risk-off · 0–6 months
A what‑if from the future

What if NATO shoots down Russian jets over the Baltic?

NATO downs Russian aircraft after repeated airspace violations, an acute escalation that spikes VIX and gold and pressures European equities before de-escalation channels engage.

11%
our model probability
over 0–6 months
prediction markets — wisdom of the crowd
loading live odds…
Empirically anchored 11% · 90% range 0–22% · 36 analogues · measured class vol_spike 31% in 6 mo · 3% held back for the unknown
how we built this number — every step
Measured class rate — vol_spike ≈0.7371/yr → 31% in 6 mo31%
Analyst prior · editorial share 39% of the class12%
Pooled · weight 86%11%
Crowd — no liquid market
Reserve 3% · no extremizing (×1.0)11%
Published11%

The class rate is measured from our dated, sourced event library (decade-normalized Poisson — the full table is public at base_rates.json). The variant’s share within its class is the analyst’s editorial call, published so you can audit it. A wider range means thinner precedent. Full recipe: methodology · scored at Reality Check.

The butterfly cascade

How this trigger trickles across markets, left → right — the root shock, its first‑order moves, then the ripple effects. Drag any node; tap a market for its real price history.

Resolution timeline — how this probability is moving

Our model's odds (gold) over time vs the crowd's (Polymarket, blue), from the past toward the 0–6 months horizon. Each dot is a real macro event that nudged the probability — green pushed it up, red pushed it down. Tap a dot for the source. The gold path is an illustrative reconstruction anchored to today's estimate — real dated events, not a live re-estimate history.

loading the timeline…

What it would mean

If this plays out, it is a risk-off shock. NATO downs Russian aircraft after repeated airspace violations, an acute escalation that spikes VIX and gold and pressures European equities before de-escalation channels engage. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — Volatility (VIX) ▲ · Gold ▲ · Geopolitical risk ▲ · Risk appetite ▼ — which propagate through our causal graph to the markets below.

If it happens — the markets it would move

Biggest moves first. Projected moves are cascade-model priors; hist A–B% = what comparable past events actually did (measured abnormal returns), and model prior · unmeasured marks markets with no analogue backing yet. Tap any market for its price history.

MarketClassProjected move
1Volatility (VIX) VIXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartVol▲ +9.7%
hist +2.65–+6.52% · other way +3.23% (n=12)
2Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -4.1%
hist -2.59–-1.39% · other way -0.37% (n=12)
3Tech sector XLK 📈 chartEquity▼ -2.6%
hist -1.86–-0.53% · other way -0.34% (n=12)
4S&P 500 SPXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -2.2%
hist -1.84–-0.62% · other way +0.57% (n=12)
5MicroStrategy MSTRon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -2.1%
hist -2.37–+2.09% · other way +26.92% (n=12)
6Semiconductors SMHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.9%
hist -1.12–+0.25% · other way +2.23% (n=12)
7Solana SOLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -1.7%
hist -4.38–+2.55% · other way +0.89% (n=12)
8Gold XAUon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCommodity▲ +1.5%
hist -0.13–+2.45% · other way -0.6% (n=12)
9Hyperliquid (HYPE) HYPEon HyperliquidCrypto▼ -1.4%
model prior · unmeasured
10Ether ETHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -1.2%
hist -7.71–+3.15% · other way +5.13% (n=12)
11Bitcoin BTCon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -1.2%
hist -1.62–-0.02% · other way +5.17% (n=12)
12Nvidia NVDAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.4%
hist -0.93–-0.41% · other way +4.75% (n=12)
13AMD AMDon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.2%
hist -1.33–-0.12% · other way -0.48% (n=12)
14Broadcom AVGOon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.2%
hist -1.51–+3.57% · other way +0.88% (n=12)

Probable recommendation

If the scenario above plays out, the probable cross‑asset positioning → a scenario‑conditional read, not personalized investment advice
Cash / hedgeRaise cash and hold the long hedges above; this scenario is net risk-off.
For a common-man portfolio: A typical stock-heavy portfolio is at risk. Consider trimming equities, raising cash, and a small gold hedge.
Also moves (not yet on Hyperliquid): Tech sector -2.6% · High-yield credit -1.0% · Financials -0.7% · JPMorgan -0.6% · Lockheed +0.6% · Northrop +0.6%

Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did

Across 36 analogous events (overlap‑weighted), as abnormal returns — market beta stripped, so it's the event's own effect, not the market backdrop. Shown at 20 days (persistent) and 5 days (immediate); ↺ fades = the two horizons disagree. Confidence = consistency × sample × significance.

Israel strikes Iran — Operation Rising Lion 2025-06 North Korea 'fire and fury' nuclear scare 2017-08 Egyptian revolution / Mubarak uprising 2011-01 China retaliates to Liberation Day: 34% tariffs + rare-earth controls 2025-04 Gold tops $3,000 for the first time amid tariff and rate-cut fears 2025-03 October 2024 Iranian ballistic-missile attack on Israel 2024-10 VIX third-highest spike on record 2024-08 Niger coup d'etat 2023-07 Wagner Group mutiny against the Kremlin 2023-06 Evergrande debt crisis - global selloff 2021-09 COVID-19 fourth circuit breaker 2020-03 Saudi-Russia oil price war 2020-03 Chinese yuan breaks 7 per dollar; US names China manipulator 2019-08 Worst Christmas Eve selloff on record 2018-12 Bitcoin Cash hash war capitulation 2018-11 February 2018 hot wage print triggers rate scare 2018-02 North Korea sixth nuclear test 2017-09 China-led global 'Black Monday' rout 2015-08 OPEC abandons output defense, opting for market share vs US shale 2014-11 Thailand 2014 military coup 2014-05 SEC approves Limit Up-Limit Down plan and revised market-wide circuit breakers 2012-05 US-downgrade Black Monday equity rout and VIX spike to 48 2011-08 VIX record intraday high of 89.53 2008-10 Shanghai Sneeze global selloff with then-record VIX spike 2007-02 US airline stocks plunge ~40% on first trading day after 9/11 2001-09 Hong Kong defends the peg with sky-high HIBOR 1997-10 Soviet August coup attempt against Gorbachev 1991-08 Tiananmen Square crackdown 1989-06 1986 oil price collapse 1986-02 Reagan assassination attempt 1981-03 Gold peaks at $850 1980-01 Iran hostage crisis / US freezes Iranian assets 1979-11 JFK assassination 1963-11 Cuban Missile Crisis 1962-10 Korean War begins 1950-06 Smoot-Hawley clears the US House 1929-05
AssetHistory saysAbnormal (20d · 5d)HitnConfidencevs cascade
COIN COINLONG+15.8% · 5d +4.1%76%8 0.48⚠ differs
INR INRSHORT-0.4% · 5d +0.1% ↺ fades65%24 0.26✓ matches cascade
AVGO AVGOLONG+3.7% · 5d +0.0%64%22 0.25⚠ differs
ETH ETHSHORT-6.9% · 5d -7.1%66%14 0.24✓ matches cascade
RTX RTXSHORT-1.2% · 5d -1.2%63%32 0.22⚠ differs
NOC NOCLONG+0.8% · 5d +0.0%61%29 0.19✓ matches cascade
TRY TRYSHORT-0.5% · 5d +1.4% ↺ fades63%24 0.19✓ matches cascade
Gold XAULONG+1.6% · 5d -0.1% ↺ fades60%25 0.18✓ matches cascade
AMD AMDSHORT-0.7% · 5d -0.2%62%30 0.17✓ matches cascade
MU MUSHORT-3.5% · 5d -0.9%61%29 0.17✓ matches cascade
INTC INTCSHORT-1.0% · 5d -1.1%60%30 0.17✓ matches cascade
SMH SMHLONG+0.9% · 5d +0.2%60%25 0.16⚠ differs
QCOM QCOMSHORT-1.8% · 5d -0.8%62%26 0.16✓ matches cascade
USDJPY USDJPYLONG+0.6% · 5d -0.0% ↺ fades58%26 0.13⚠ differs

Methodology. Probability and impact are anchored to history and scored against what actually happens — wins and losses, in public, at Reality Check. Crowd odds live from Polymarket & Kalshi. By Vikas Singh, Quantitative Strategist. Updated 2026-07-03.