bitcoin brushed aside a volatile round of US tariff headlines on Friday, inching towards $68,000 and altcoins bouncing modestly.
The day began with the US Supreme Court ruling that President Donald Trump’s global tariff rollout was illegal. The decision did not clarify what should happen to the tariff revenues already collected, and does not necessarily mean the end of Trump’s trade agenda, with multiple legal and executive avenues still available.
In the afternoon, President Trump announced an additional 10% global tariff that will be implemented under Section 122 for approximately five months, effective in three days.
The new tax, imposed on top of existing tariffs, barely affected confidence.
Risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, rose modestly during the session. The CoinDesk 20 broad market index gained 2.5% in the last 24 hours, with BNB, , and Solana (SOL) outperformed with advances of 3% to 4%. Bitcoin was recently trading just below $68,000.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively. Among cryptocurrency-linked stocks, exchange Coinbase (COIN), stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL), and bitcoin treasury firm Strategy (MSTR) rose more than 2%. Bitcoin miners tied to building AI infrastructure underperformed: Riot Platforms (RIOT), Cipher Mining (CIFR), IREN, and TeraWulf (WULF) fell between 3% and 6%.
Cryptocurrencies to remain range-bound
“We have seen a small rally in risk assets following the tariff news as it leads to a narrative that tariffs are detrimental to the macro environment,” said Paul Howard, director at trading firm Wincent.
Still, conviction that prices could break higher from the current narrow range remains slim. “However, volumes remain low and we can expect cryptocurrencies to maintain a trading range for the time being” barring any “macro or geopolitical shocks,” Howard added.
A possible key macroeconomic risk could be that Trump orders strikes against Iran in the coming days, following the significant military buildup in the region for weeks.
