Crypto: Stablecoin Stagnation, Tariffs A Headwind For Bitcoin Prices,...
Tariff shocks led to a capital rotation from crypto into precious metals and tokenized commodities, as analysts warn that the thin crypto market liquidity is limiting a wider recovery.
Shrinking crypto market liquidity is a concerning sign for crypto asset valuations, as investors gravitate towards safe-haven assets like precious metals amid growing global trade uncertainty.
The stagnating stablecoin supply is presenting a “notable headwind” for Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto ecosystem, according to Matrixport. “Stablecoins serve as the primary liquidity rail within digital assets and stagnation in supply often signals that capital is being off-ramped back into fiat rather than redeployed within crypto markets,” said the digital asset platform in a Tuesday X post.
The stablecoin supply has fallen by $5.6 billion year-to-date, from $159 billion on Jan. 1, to $153.4 billon on Tuesday, according to analytics platform CryptoQuant. Stablecoin reserves on the leading crypto exchange, Binance, also shrank by 19% since November 2025, Cointelegraph reported earlier on Tuesday.
Bitcoin also appears to be decoupling from gold in the short term. BTC’s 90-day Pearson correlation with gold has turned negative, falling near -0.75, according to analytics platform CryptoQuant.
The Pearson correlation measures how closely the returns of Bitcoin and gold move together at a given period, with a -1 marking a perfect negative correlation.
“Bitcoin is in a ‘not digital gold’ period,” said Ki Young Yu, the founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, in a Tuesday X post.
The backdrop has been complicated by renewed tariff uncertainty. On Saturday, US President Donald Trump announced a global tariff plan that has fueled uncertainty, with a 10% rate taking effect while an increase to 15% has been discussed.
Related: Tether USDT supply set for biggest monthly decline since 2022 FTX collapse
The renewed geopolitical concerns are accelerating the crypto capital exodus towards precious metals, according to crypto exchange Bitget’s chief analyst, Ryan Lee.
Source: CoinTelegraph
