Bitcoin is staging a rebellion against traditional markets, gaining more than 2% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped nearly 6% in a single day.

As Trump’s tariffs caused chaos, over $3.2 trillion was wiped out from stocks, yet crypto added $5.4 billion in market cap. Now traders are asking; is BTC finally breaking free from Wall Street’s grip?

Decoupling From Mainstream Markets

“This is insane, BTC is detaching right before our eyes,” tweeted crypto analyst Cory Bates, reacting to data showing the biggest stock market indexes in the red, with Bitcoin up 2%.

In a post on X, Ryan Rasmussen, head of research at Bitwise, showed the performances of several major tech stocks since Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day.”

The likes of Google, Amazon, and Meta were all down by double figures, with Apple the worst-hit, plunging almost 16% in that period. Even gold, the classic safe haven, crumbled 3%, leaving Bitcoin as the last asset standing.

Crypto influencer Kyle Chassé posed a question on X, asking whether BTC could benefit from the ongoing trade war drama, to which a user emphatically responded, “Bitcoin is the only asset to be in right now.”

Meanwhile, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes cheekily suggested that holders of the cryptocurrency need to “learn to love tariffs” as it showed signs of dissociating with traditional financial markets. Earlier, he had predicted that Trump’s new trade policy could force central banks to start printing money, which could be good for Bitcoin.

BTC to $100K?

Bitcoin’s recent performance relative to Wall Street has led to some measure of optimism. Popular chartist MacroScope revisited a theory they had shared earlier of a possible “handoff,” where BTC diverges positively from gold and broader market risks, a trend not seen since 2019.

“BTC positive divergence from gold and risk in past 24 hours is striking. Haven’t seen it to this extent in a long time,” wrote the analyst.

In their previous post, they called it the “gold leads, BTC eventually follows” relationship. This has held true at a few key inflection points in past years, especially from 2019 to 2020, when gold rallied first, and Bitcoin exploded soon after by a whopping 344%.

“A reclaim of 100k would imply a ‘handoff’ from gold to BTC,” said MacroScope. This, in their opinion, would open the door to a period of “huge outperformance” by Bitcoin over other assets.

However, not everyone is convinced. “Don’t be ultra greedy on crypto this weekend,” warned Master Kenobi, pointing to a possible “rug pull” happening at the start of next week.