During Tuesday’s Asian trading session, safe-haven sentiment in financial markets continued to intensify. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, saw its price plummet more than 5%, falling below the $63,000 mark. The primary reason for this decline is investors’ ongoing assessment of global trade tensions sparked by a new round of tariff policies led by former U.S. President Donald Trump, coupled with broader geopolitical risks. This sharp drop in Bitcoin highlights that, in the face of uncertainty, capital tends to flow more towards traditional safe-haven assets like gold and silver, rather than Bitcoin, which has been dubbed “digital gold.”
Since hitting an all-time high of $125,000 in October last year, Bitcoin has undergone a significant correction. As of now, the cryptocurrency has fallen 27% this year and is down 50% from its record high.
Some Wall Street analysts point out that the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Trump tariffs case, the subsequent new tariff framework, combined with geopolitical turmoil, have collectively led to a sharp downturn in market risk appetite. This decline is seen more as a “tactical de-risking” operation, reflecting a macro-level reset in risk preference, rather than a negative event specific to the cryptocurrency sector.
Christopher Hamilton, Head of Client Investment Solutions for Asia Pacific at Invesco, stated that this looks more like a typical macro risk appetite reset rather than a shock unique to the crypto space. He emphasized that it more likely reflects a tactical withdrawal from risk assets by the market, rather than a structural position unwind.
Billy Leung, Investment Strategist at Global X Australia, pointed out that Bitcoin is highly sensitive to global liquidity conditions. If the market interprets the new trade policies of the Trump administration as tightening financial conditions, crypto assets will be the first to feel the selling pressure.
Currently, Bitcoin faces not just a price pullback, but an identity crisis akin to “narrative compression.” Several core logics that once supported its bull run—safe-haven, payments, speculation—have been weakened simultaneously. Ironically, this is happening against a backdrop of a more friendly regulatory environment, deeper institutional participation, and more sophisticated Wall Street tools (such as spot ETFs). When price appreciation is no longer the default outcome, the market begins to re-examine its power to attract new capital.
In this stress test of macro risk appetite, Bitcoin, the “digital gold,” has thoroughly lost out to the traditional “king of safe havens,” gold. When safe-haven demand rises, capital clearly favors gold-related assets over highly volatile Bitcoin, as evidenced by the recent sustained outflows from Bitcoin spot ETFs. Simultaneously, its “future payment” narrative is being diverted by stablecoins and tokenized settlements, which possess stronger compliance and practicality in payment scenarios, sending a signal that the “main battlefield for payments has shifted.”
Standard Chartered Bank has significantly lowered its Bitcoin price target for the end of 2026 from $150,000 to $100,000, just months after the bank gave a forecast of $300,000. The institution also warned that the world’s largest cryptocurrency could even plunge further to $50,000 before stabilizing.
