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- Bitcoin holds strong at $82,000 despite a $5 trillion U.S. stock sell-off, signaling potential decoupling from equities.
- Analysts suggest Bitcoin’s divergence from stocks marks a shift toward market independence.
- Momentum builds for a potential $100K Bitcoin breakout, signaling a new cycle of outperformance.
Bitcoin (BTC) stood strong amid a turbulent week in global markets, reinforcing its role as a resilient digital haven. While major U.S. stock indices tumbled in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement, Bitcoin defied the panic and held firm, signaling what some analysts believe could be the start of a long-anticipated decoupling from traditional equities.
The stock market sell-off was dramatic. The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average collectively lost over $5 trillion in market value over two trading sessions. Friday’s drop alone saw the Dow plunge 5.5%, marking its worst single-day performance since the COVID crash in June 2020. Meanwhile, gold a traditional safe-haven asset also slipped.
Despite the chaos, BTC stayed above the $82,000 mark and even showed strength. After briefly dipping to $81,500 in response to the tariff news, BTC rebounded sharply to touch $84,600 on Friday. As of press time, Bitcoin was trading around $83,650, according to TradingView down slightly on the day, but maintaining key support levels.
Bitcoin Performance Divergence Signals Market Shift
The stark contrast in performance between Bitcoin and traditional assets is reigniting the conversation around Bitcoin’s market independence. Historically, BTC has shown a high correlation with tech stocks and broader equity markets, often moving in tandem during periods of macroeconomic stress. However, this week’s divergence is being viewed as an early signal that Bitcoin could finally be decoupling from risk-on assets.
Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, weighed in on the shift, suggesting the previous correlation might have been artificial driven more by liquidity flows and market maker behavior than fundamental value alignment. “Maybe market makers were using Bitcoin’s fiat liquidity shortage to auto-correlate Bitcoin,” Back noted, pointing to noticeable patterns during U.S. market openings.
Tariffs, often seen as bearish for global markets, might ironically serve as a bullish catalyst for Bitcoin. Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, argues that the tariffs could push governments and central banks toward renewed monetary easing to counteract the economic pain fueling inflation and making hard assets like BTC more attractive.
“$BTC hodlers need to learn to love tariffs,” Hayes said in a Friday statement. “Maybe we finally broke the correlation with Nasdaq and can move onto the purest form of a fiat liquidity smoke alarm.”
Hayes believes that the consequences of these trade barriers will force central banks to print more money to stabilize bond yields and economic growth. This potential wave of liquidity would, in his view, undermine fiat currencies further strengthening the appeal of Bitcoin as a scarce, decentralized, and inflation-resistant asset.
Bitcoin $100K Potential as Market Momentum Shifts
Market momentum is now shifting toward a potential retest of Bitcoin’s psychological $100,000 level. According to popular analyst Macroscope, a breakout above recent highs often marks the beginning of a new outperformance cycle** for Bitcoin, mirroring historical price behavior.
“In previous cycles, a reclaim of the recent high has kicked off a new period of outperformance,” Macroscope said, adding that a successful push to $100K could spark capital rotation from traditional safe havens like gold to Bitcoin.
Bitcoin’s unique positioning as a non-sovereign financial hedge is gaining renewed attention as the global economy enters a more volatile phase. Michael Saylor, executive chairman of MicroStrategy, offered a broader take: “Inflation is just the tip of the iceberg. Capital faces dilution from taxes, regulation, obsolescence, and unforeseen events. Bitcoin offers resilience in a world full of hidden risks.”
As investors search for assets that can weather rising geopolitical uncertainty, monetary expansion, and fiscal pressure, Bitcoin may no longer be viewed as a speculative play but rather as a strategic, long-term store of value.
Related | Bitcoin gains momentum as Arthur Hayes supports Trump’s Tariffs
