How crypto markets are handling tariff updates

History suggests tariff threat-fueled trade war fears often pass as quickly as they form, analyst Matt Britzman noted

article-image

PXLR Studio/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share


This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


After implementing 25% levies on steel and aluminum imports Monday, Donald Trump was expected to follow that up with reciprocal tariffs on other trading partners. 

Bitcoin dipped to around $95,000 around the steel/aluminum tariff news, before rebounding back above $98,000 early Tuesday.

“This rapid recovery underscores the growing maturity and stability of digital assets, even in the face of external economic shocks,” 21Shares crypto research strategist Matt Mena said in an email.

During the Canada-Mexico tariff announcement the weekend prior, he noted, crypto prices dropped about 5-10% further than yesterday’s levels — indicating “market confidence has strengthened.”

Indeed, Hargreaves Lansdown senior equity analyst Matt Britzman said in a Tuesday morning ET note how US markets “put on a strong show” late yesterday. Still, the tariffs had investors “bracing for impact, with futures slipping lower this morning,” he noted.

History suggests tariff threat-fueled trade war fears often pass as quickly as they form, Britzman added. 

“But this time, the smart money isn’t so sure; currency, bond and commodity traders are hedging their bets, sending the dollar, Treasury yields and gold climbing as tensions heat up,” he explained.

LMAX Group currency strategist Joel Kruger argued that the story is more about the market getting reacquainted with Trump’s tactics than any material risk associated with extreme tariff measures. 

He told me: “While there could be short-term volatility on new announcements, we don’t see this risk causing any major shakeups from here on and expect crypto assets to continue to be well supported by medium and longer-term players looking to build exposure into dips.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template (10).png

Research

Innovations on Aptos’ technical design through Raptr, Shardines, and Zaptos approach near-optimal latency and throughput by unlocking 100% utilization of network resources, with the capacity to settle 260k transactions per second with latencies less than 800ms. The original Move language was revamped with the launch of Move 2, supporting more expressivity in smart contract logic and a scalable ability to interact with high volume datasets. The ecosystem has benefitted from strong asset inflows, now hosting over $1.3B in stablecoins, $450M in bridged BTC, and $530M in RWAs. Activity in the Aptos ecosystem has grown notably over the past year, with monthly application revenue reaching ~$835k and monthly DEX volumes growing to over $5B, both at new all time highs.

article-image

The Stripe-acquired firm has big plans for a streamlined, multi-wallet future

article-image

Both founders of the former crypto lender have now landed in new crypto industry roles

article-image

Bitcoin’s recent peak is a victory lap for curvers left and right

article-image

Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo says institutions are eager to get exposure to tokenization

article-image

Trade isn’t war and prosperity isn’t a contest