The price of Bitcoin (BTC) was shaken by the U.S. president’s expansionist ambitions. It experienced extreme volatility yesterday before stabilizing around $90,000 in the hours that followed. What does this say about the status of the largest cryptocurrency?
The price of Bitcoin (BTC) is experiencing a particularly volatile day
The price of Bitcoin had started the day on January 21 with some optimism, regaining the psychological threshold of $90,000. But the cryptocurrency was affected by geopolitical tensions stemming from Donald Trump’s desire to conquer Greenland. Shortly after his speech in Davos, the BTC price plummeted by more than $3,000 to reach $87,200.
But after this hour-long plunge, the BTC price began to rise again. The reason was an apparent reversal by Donald Trump, who seemed content with an agreement on Greenland just a few hours after his bellicose threats. As a result, Bitcoin regained all the ground it had lost, climbing back to the $90,000 mark:
Bitcoin price on a rollercoaster ride yesterday
Around 9 a.m. this morning, one Bitcoin was trading at $89,910. This represents a 7% drop over the past 7 days. However, the BTC price is up 2.5% over the month.
Bitcoin’s Fading Status as a Safe Haven
While Donald Trump’s rise to power had fueled hopes for Bitcoin as a reserve asset, the geopolitical events of the past year tend to show the opposite. Bitcoin’s sensitivity to geopolitical events effectively rules it out, for now, as a “pure” safe-haven asset, unlike gold, which has set record highs in recent months.
Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, highlighted this paradox in an interview with the Crypto Prime podcast:
We’re seeing significant geopolitical uncertainty, with gold trading at new all-time highs, while Bitcoin is underperforming. Bitcoin isn’t really doing what it’s supposed to do—at least not in real time.
However, taking a step back, the cryptocurrency seems to have found its niche: between 2020 and 2026, BTC rose by 896%. Hence Bitcoin’s strange status, as it is neither digital gold nor a “traditional” risky asset.
