Just 24 hours ago, crypto markets looked like they were heading for another brutal drop. Stocks were collapsing, the trade war was escalating, and most digital assets had already taken a hit. But today, something a bit unexpected happened: crypto didn’t just stop falling – it started climbing.
While Wall Street sank deeper into red and traders panicked over China’s response to Trump’s tariffs, Bitcoin quietly pushed above $83,000. Ethereum climbed back toward $1,800. Solana jumped 4%, and XRP surged 6%, making a sharp comeback after struggling with the $2 level.
It’s not a full recovery. But in the middle of what’s shaping up to be the worst week for stocks since the pandemic days, the fact that crypto isn’t sinking with everything else is enough to raise eyebrows.
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Trillions Lost – But Not On Crypto
Let’s start with the obvious: the broader market is a mess.
The Dow dropped over 1,300 points today. The S&P 500 fell nearly 4%, capping off what’s shaping up to be its worst week since 2020. Tech stocks got demolished – Tesla lost 5.5%, Nvidia tumbled 4.75%, and Apple slid almost 5%.
The reason behind today’s drop is China’s announcement of 34% tariffs on all U.S. goods, a direct retaliation to Trump’s “Liberation Day” policy announced earlier this week. The message was clear: this isn’t going to cool off. It’s just heating up.
For a second day in a row, the stock market lost trillions of dollars in value. Corporate giants with global supply chains were hit hardest, and fears of a recession are rising. Even Jerome Powell, the usually careful Fed Chair, admitted that the economic impact of these tariffs will be “larger than expected” – and that the inflation they bring might not be so temporary after all.
Crypto Refuses to Follow
Bitcoin’s rise is modest – just about 1% – but what really matters is the direction. Yesterday’s dip looked like it might continue – instead, most tokens have bounced back. Some of the losses from the past two days have already been recovered.
Usually, when stocks crash hard, crypto crashes even harder. That’s been the pattern we have observed over the last years. But this time, something seems to have shifted. Risk assets are still selling off – just not all of them.
Part of it may be the obvious: crypto isn’t directly affected by tariffs. Tokens aren’t made in one country and exported to another. They don’t rely on factory supply chains. A trade war doesn’t hit the blockchain the same way it hits semiconductors or sneakers.
While tech stocks are bracing for higher costs, crypto is floating above that fight. Investors know this. They also know that the U.S. has been surprisingly friendly toward crypto recently, with multiple ETF applications moving forward and regulators taking a lighter approach under the current administration.
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Compare that to the stock market, where companies like Apple may have to rethink their entire production strategy – or pay far more to keep it going. The auto industry is also in trouble. Every major carmaker – Tesla, Ford, Toyota – saw its shares slide. Cross-border manufacturing just got a lot more expensive. Crypto doesn’t have that problem.
The Case for Cautious Optimism
This doesn’t mean crypto is in the clear. If the entire economy slows down, people will have less money to invest in anything, including crypto. And if this turns into a global recession, we’ll likely see more selling.
But what today shows is that the old pattern – stocks drop, crypto drops harder – isn’t a rule anymore. Investors didn’t ditch crypto the same way they ran from Apple or Nvidia.
There’s also a psychological shift worth watching. Investors who sold yesterday might now be questioning if they were too quick to panic. And those who held through the drop have just been rewarded with a bounce most didn’t see coming. That kind of shift in sentiment can be powerful.
If the next few days bring more red to Wall Street – but crypto holds steady or even keeps climbing – that could start to change how people treat this asset class during moments of crisis.
What Comes Next?
Nobody knows. Other countries could announce more retaliatory tariffs any day now. The U.S. could escalate again. And it’s hard to say which sector gets hit next.
Crypto could still tumble if panic spreads. But for now, its resilience is a surprise – and a pretty encouraging one.
We’ll see more this weekend. Crypto trades 24/7 – stocks don’t. If tensions rise again before Monday, investors will not be able to sell off stocks and might turn to crypto. That’s when we’ll see whether this recovery is real or just a pause before another leg down.
But one thing’s certain: crypto held its ground today when almost nothing else did.
