⚔ Geopolitics risk-off · 1–3 years
A what‑if from the future

What if a shadow-fleet and barter network erodes sanctions efficacy and creates hidden counterparty exposures?

A sprawling shadow-fleet and barter network routes sanctioned oil and goods through opaque intermediaries, eroding sanctions efficacy and creating hidden counterparty and insurance exposures.

13%
our model probability
over 1–3 years
prediction markets — wisdom of the crowd
loading live odds…
Empirically anchored 13% · 90% range 4–21% · 40 analogues · measured class trade_war 98% in 3 yr · 3% held back for the unknown
how we built this number — every step
Measured class rate — trade_war ≈1.3449/yr → 98% in 3 yr98%
Analyst prior · editorial share 12% of the class12%
Pooled · weight 87%13%
Crowd — no liquid market
Reserve 3% · no extremizing (×1.0)13%
Published13%

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 1–3 years 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. A sprawling shadow-fleet and barter network routes sanctioned oil and goods through opaque intermediaries, eroding sanctions efficacy and creating hidden counterparty and insurance exposures. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — Credit spreads ▲ · Geopolitical risk ▲ · Oil supply risk ▲ · Trade tension ▲ — 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▲ +6.6%
hist +1.65–+5.65% · other way -6.78% (n=12)
2Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -4.0%
hist -2.21–-1.13% · other way +0.13% (n=12)
3Tech sector XLK 📈 chartEquity▼ -2.8%
hist -1.73–-0.73% · other way +0.32% (n=12)
4Semiconductors SMHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -2.5%
hist -1.66–-0.6% · other way +2.22% (n=12)
5Nvidia NVDAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -2.0%
hist -1.08–-0.63% · other way +1.13% (n=12)
6Brent crude BRENTon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCommodity▲ +1.8%
hist -1.88–+1.19% · other way -3.03% (n=12)
7TSMC TSMon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.8%
hist -1.2–-0.64% · other way +2.78% (n=12)
8AMD AMDon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.6%
hist -1.04–-0.48% · other way -0.71% (n=12)
9Broadcom AVGOon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.6%
hist -1.28–+0.69% · other way +2.76% (n=12)
10Micron MUon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.6%
hist -1.18–-0.43% · other way +3.32% (n=12)
11Marvell MRVLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.6%
hist -1.19–-0.27% · other way +2.96% (n=12)
12S&P 500 SPXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -1.4%
hist -1.06–-0.44% · other way +0.49% (n=12)
13WTI crude CLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCommodity▲ +1.5%
hist -2.53–+1.44% · other way -2.43% (n=12)
14ASML ASMLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.4%
hist -2.51–+0.24% · other way -1.88% (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 -2.8% · High-yield credit -0.9% · Chinese yuan -0.8% · Financials -0.6% · United Airlines -0.9% · ExxonMobil +0.8%

Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did

Across 40 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 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 Saudi-Russia oil price war 2020-03 Chinese yuan breaks 7 per dollar; US names China manipulator 2019-08 OPEC abandons output defense, opting for market share vs US shale 2014-11 1986 oil price collapse 1986-02 Iran hostage crisis / US freezes Iranian assets 1979-11 Smoot-Hawley clears the US House 1929-05 US-China extend tariff truce by another 90 days 2025-08 US and China agree Geneva tariff truce, slashing rates 2025-05 Hezbollah pager and device explosions across Lebanon 2024-09 April 2024 Iranian drone-and-missile barrage on Israel 2024-04 Ukrainian drone strikes hit Russian refineries, lifting crude and gasoline 2024-03 Wagner Group mutiny against the Kremlin 2023-06 First Republic Bank seized and sold to JPMorgan 2023-05 Regional-bank panic deepens after Signature seizure 2023-03 ExxonMobil posts most profitable year for any US oil company 2023-01 US-led 240-million-barrel SPR release answers the Ukraine spike 2022-03 Houthi drone-and-missile strike on Aramco's Jeddah depot 2022-03 Houthi drone-and-missile attack on Abu Dhabi oil sites lifts Brent to 7-year high 2022-01 Kaisa Group offshore default 2021-12 Abqaiq-Khurais strike triggers the biggest Brent spike on record 2019-09 Houthi drones strike Saudi East-West crude pipeline 2019-05 Bitcoin Cash hash war capitulation 2018-11 US List 3 tariffs on $200B of Chinese goods finalized 2018-09 US Section 301 List 1 tariffs take effect on China 2018-07 China retaliates: $50B tariff list incl. soybeans 2018-04 US Section 232 steel & aluminum tariffs imposed 2018-03 North Korea sixth nuclear test 2017-09 North Korea 'fire and fury' nuclear scare 2017-08 Mexican peso crash on Trump 2016 win 2016-11 HYG record outflows in 2014 high-yield rout 2014-10 Mt. Gox collapse 2014-02 Mt. Gox halts withdrawals 2014-02 Cyprus deposit bail-in 2013-03 Spain requests EUR100bn bank bailout 2012-06 Bankia nationalised in Spain's banking crisis 2012-05 Portugal requests EU-IMF bailout 2011-04
AssetHistory saysAbnormal (20d · 5d)HitnConfidencevs cascade
COIN COINLONG+8.2% · 5d +4.8%74%17 0.38⚠ differs
XCU XCUSHORT-1.6% · 5d -0.9%72%37 0.37✓ matches cascade
CNY CNYSHORT-0.7% · 5d -0.2%67%37 0.32✓ matches cascade
MRVL MRVLSHORT-0.5% · 5d -2.6%69%37 0.30✓ matches cascade
BRENT BRENTSHORT-2.4% · 5d -2.0%65%37 0.26⚠ differs
ETH ETHSHORT-3.7% · 5d -4.4%66%26 0.24✓ matches cascade
AUD AUDSHORT-0.7% · 5d -0.3%64%37 0.23✓ matches cascade
FCX FCXSHORT-3.9% · 5d -2.5%63%37 0.21✓ matches cascade
CL CLSHORT-2.9% · 5d -2.2%63%37 0.20⚠ differs
High-yield credit HYGSHORT-0.5% · 5d -0.1%63%37 0.19✓ matches cascade
DAL DALLONG+2.2% · 5d -0.3% ↺ fades62%37 0.19⚠ differs
10y yield DGS10LONG+4bp · 5d +5bp61%39 0.19✓ matches cascade
Bitcoin BTCSHORT-4.5% · 5d -4.5%61%31 0.18✓ matches cascade
QCOM QCOMSHORT-2.9% · 5d -2.7%62%37 0.17✓ matches cascade

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.