Bitcoin Beats Stocks—Treasury Secretary Calls It Gold Rival.
Bitcoin and crypto prices have been rocked by U.S. president Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs—with the Federal Reserve poised to boost the bitcoin price.
The price of bitcoin experienced a significant decline following concerns raised by China regarding a potential "crisis scenario." However, it has since recovered, decoupling from its previous correlation with the stock market. Currently, the CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink has suggested that bitcoin may be a "safer bet" compared to the U.S. dollar, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has referred to bitcoin as an emerging "store of value," likening it to gold.
“Bitcoin is becoming a store of value, gold’s has historically been a store of value,” Bessent told podcaster Tucker Carlson, adding there are “a lot of different stores of value over time.”
Bessent’s comments come as stock markets around the world fall sharply following Trump's announcement of what he termed Liberation Day, during which the United States established a universal import tax of 10% and imposed even steeper tariffs on products from numerous nations.
Gold, recognized as a conventional safe haven asset, has increased by approximately 15% this year as investors and central banks acquire it to protect themselves from economic and geopolitical uncertainties.
The U.S. stock market has seen a rapid decline of nearly 10% since Trump implemented his global tariff policy, which proved to be more forceful than traders expected. In a social media update, Trump remarked, “Trump is purposely crashing the market.”
Meanwhile, the price of bitcoin has risen throughout the week, diverging from its recent relationship with the stock market, particularly the technology-focused Nasdaq including Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, and Tesla amongst others.
