By Brian Swint

Bitcoin was rising even as most cryptocurrencies were dropping on Wednesday. It could be a volatile day for markets as President Donald Trump unveils his plans for slapping tariffs on imported goods.

While crypto is a different kind of asset to stocks, they often trade in line with each other based on how much appetite investors have for risk -- cryptos usually rise when traders are looking for high-risk, high-reward trades, and it usually falls when traders switch to risk-off. It's the same pattern that's often seen with technology stocks like Nvidia, Apple, or Palantir.

The worry is that the tariffs will be big, casting a shadow over the outlook for economic growth while also threatening to drive up inflation. But it's also possible that smaller-than-expected taxes on imports could spark a rally.

Most digital assets were falling early in the day alongside futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. XRP, the coin that settles transactions on the Ripple platform, was down 0.7%, while Ethereum was little changed. Solana fell 1.6% and Cardano retreated 0.7%.

By contrast, Bitcoin was rising, gaining 0.9% to $84,176 over the past 24 hours. One catalyst for the biggest and oldest crypto asset could be the recent approval by U.K. regulators of BlackRock as a crypto asset firm, according to a report by online crypto site DL News. That means its Bitcoin exchange-traded product can now be operated in Britain, and it gives investors a way to profit from Bitcoin without directly purchasing it. BlackRock, the world's biggest money manager, is the 51st company to be registered as a crypto asset firm in the U.K.

Bitcoin could also be getting support from some recent high-profile purchases. MicroStrategy, which is renaming itself Strategy, is buying Bitcoin as a major part of its business plan. GameStop, the videogame retailer, has said it will start trading cryptocurrencies as well.

Write to Brian Swint at brian.swint@barrons.com

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April 02, 2025 05:03 ET (09:03 GMT)

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