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Escalating trade tensions and renewed uncertainty in global markets are driving investors toward alternative assets, including Bitcoin and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), as concerns mount over the long-term stability of the financial system.<\/p>\n
Global trade tensions continue pressuring investor sentiment despite US President Donald Trump announcing a 90-day pause on higher reciprocal tariffs<\/a> on April 9, reverting the tariffs to the 10% baseline for most countries.<\/p>\n At the same time, Trump escalated his tariffs on Chinese goods from 104% to 125%, the Financial Times reported<\/a> on April 9.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump\u2019s tariff escalation marks a significant inflection point for global markets,\u201d a move that signals \u201cmore than a trade disagreement,\u201d said Teddy Pornprinya, co-founder of Plume \u2014 a layer-1 blockchain focused on tokenized real-world assets. He added:<\/p>\n \u201cIt exposes deeper fractures in the global monetary system.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n With both the US and China facing what he described as unsustainable debt levels, Pornprinya warned of increased reliance on inflationary tools, including the potential depreciation of the Chinese yuan.<\/p>\n \u201cThese dynamics will test the resilience of every asset class\u201d and inspire greater adoption for tokenized credit and private yield products that \u201caren\u2019t exposed to sovereign devaluation games,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Bitcoin ETFs lose $326M amid \u2018evolving\u2019 dynamic with TradFi markets<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n The tariff fears led tokenized gold trading<\/a> volume to surge to a two-year high this week, topping $1 billion for the first time since the US banking crisis in 2023, Cointelegraph reported on April 10.<\/p>\n Top tokenized gold assets, trading volume. Source: CoinGecko, Cex.io<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Onchain real-world assets (RWAs)<\/a> also surpassed the $20-billion all-time high on April 9, with tokenized private credit representing the lion\u2019s share, or $12.7 billion of total RWA value, according to data<\/a> from RWA.xyz.<\/p>\n RWA global market dashboard. Source: <\/em>RWA.xyz<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Some industry watchers said that Bitcoin\u2019s lack of upside momentum may drive RWAs to a $50-billion all-time high<\/a> before the end of 2025, as their increased liquidity will help RWAs attract a significant share of the $450-trillion<\/a> global asset market.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Bitcoin\u2019s safe-haven appeal grows during trade war uncertainty<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Despite investor concerns, analysts at crypto exchange Bitfinex said the tariff hike may not represent a long-term policy shift.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe, however, that the threat of tariffs by the current US administration is a negotiating tool to be used to persuade other countries to lower tariffs on American manufactured goods and services and are unlikely to become permanent policy,\u201d they told Cointelegraph.<\/p>\n Source: <\/em>Raoul Pal<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor, also said that the tariff negotiations may only be \u201cposturing\u201d for the US to reach an agreement with China<\/a>.<\/p>\n The tone of the negotiations may dictate the recovery of global risk assets, including the crypto market, which has a 70% chance to bottom<\/a> by June 2025 before recovering, Nansen analysts predicted.<\/p>\nTariffs are \u201cUS bargaining tool,\u201d not lasting policy shift<\/h2>\n