- Trump’s tariffs are driving investors to safety.
- Bettors on Polymarket are pivoting, piling new bets on the prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP.
Crypto investors are scaling back their optimism after US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs shook the market this week.
On Friday, Polymarket, where punters can bet on the odds of any number of real-world events, showed that the vast majority of its betting pools on the price of Bitcoin are flipping bearish.
One pool that boasts more than $6 million in trading volume now puts a 73% chance of Bitcoin plummeting to $70,000 by the end of the year.
Bettors in another $3 million pool, which asks, “What price will Bitcoin hit in April?” give a 83% chance of the cryptocurrency falling to $80,000.
These predictions spiked Wednesday after Trump announced his sweeping tariff regime.
The president’s promises to end the Biden era enforcement of the sector and embrace the crypto industry are becoming a reality, but broader macroeconomic concerns are battering any industry-specific optimism.
Bitcoin currently trades at $82,504, down 3.1% on the week and 8.1% over the last month, according to CoinGecko.
Assets like Solana, Dogecoin, and XRP have been hit harder this past week.
Recalibrating
Owing to the new tariff policies, investors are sharply recalibrating risk and are ditching high-volatility assets like Bitcoin in favour of safer bets such as US bonds and gold.
While the precious metal hits new highs, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is down 5.75% over the last five days. The S&P 500 was also down 4.67% over the same period.
Meanwhile, 58% of bets on “What price will Ethereum hit in April” wager the second-largest crypto will be headed down to $1,600.
Bettors on the Ripple-linked XRP price pool for April see it headed to $1.90 from a current $2.04. Both spiked following the tariff shocks of this week.
Andrew Flanagan is a markets correspondent for DL News. Have a tip? Reach out to aflanagan@dlnews.com.
