Bitcoin Shows Unexpected Strength as Stocks and Gold Tumble on Trump Tariffs

The cryptocurrency market edged higher on Friday amid promising macroeconomic data, rebounding slightly from major losses on Thursday, which were triggered by the implementation of President Donald Trump's reciprocal trade tariffs.

Bitcoin (BTC) has risen by 1% in the past 24 hours, trading around $82,700. Ethereum (ETH) is up nearly 1%, reaching $1,790, while XRP has surged 6.3% to $2.13. Solana (SOL) has gained 3.5%, trading at $118.

The crypto market didn’t exactly skyrocket on Friday, but in a way, it held its ground better than most people probably expected, especially considering all the noise around tariffs and economic slowdown fears.

What makes all this slightly more interesting is that while crypto was steady, the traditional markets were bleeding out. The NASDAQ dropped a massive 6% on Thursday, the S&P 500 tumbled nearly 5%, and the Dow gave up almost 4%. Gold didn’t exactly play the safe haven role either — slipping from over $3,160 to around $3,026.

AltcoinPsycho posted, “Really nice strength by BTC during this macro panic,” adding that if interest rates drop and the 10-year yield dips below 3%, a new all-time high is “almost certain.”

Meanwhile, another post from MartyParty showed a pretty blunt side-by-side comparison: The S&P and DOW Jones are down over 10%, gold is sliding, and Bitcoin is only down a few percent, not exactly what you'd expect during this kind of financial storm.

According to Coingecko, the total crypto market cap ticked up slightly to about $2.78 trillion in the past 24 hours. Liquidations came in at $249 million, with Bitcoin making up the biggest chunk at $89 million.

ETF Outflows

Now, here’s where it gets a little more surprising. U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs only suffered about $100 million in outflows on April 3, according to Sosovalue. That might sound like a lot, but it’s not—especially when you look back at February, when billion-dollar outflows in a single day were common.

Grayscale’s GBTC, Bitwise’s BITB, and Fidelity’s FBTC were the biggest contributors, shedding $60 million, $44 million, and $23 million, respectively. But investors, especially the bigger players, don’t seem to be panic selling like they have in the past.

This suggests that people still have conviction in Bitcoin — even if the macro picture’s a mess and interest rates, inflation, and international politics are exacerbating volatility.

Nonfarm Payrolls

Adding to the mix, the U.S. labor market seems to be holding up for now. March nonfarm payrolls came in at 228,000, blowing past the 140,000 estimate. February’s number was also revised upward.

The unemployment rate stayed flat at 4.2%—slightly above expectations. That slight miss sparked speculation about whether the Federal Reserve might cut rates further, which would be a huge tailwind for crypto.

Dr. Kirill Kretov from CoinPanel said things could shift fast depending on how the Fed reacts. “If they start looking toward stimulus or cutting rates to ease job pain, crypto could catch another wave,” he said. But he also added that with so much uncertainty floating around, the reaction might not be as big as in past cycles.

Kretov also pointed out that this might all be more about political posturing than true economic shifts. “Sentiment can shift quickly and dramatically,” he said, “so we’re still expecting things to stay bumpy.”

Trump’s Trade War

All of this came just days after Trump dropped the hammer with a sweeping tariff policy — 10% across the board for all imports, plus steeper rates for China (34%), the EU (20%), Vietnam (46%), and Taiwan (32%).

“This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates. He is always ‘late,’ but he could now change his image, and quickly,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social earlier today. “CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!”