Author: Mamengniu, Deep Tide TechFlow
Monday morning began with a sharp decline in cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin fell below $93,000, with $864 million in liquidations over 24 hours—a familiar taste.
Meanwhile, gold and silver are hitting historic highs.
The real "culprit" might still be our old friend: Trump's obsession with Greenland and the unprecedented tariff war it has triggered with European allies.
Just yesterday, Trump threatened to impose a 10% tariff on eight European countries—Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland—if an agreement to purchase Greenland is not reached, with tariffs set to rise to 25% in June.
We have grown accustomed to Trump using tariff threats against China, Mexico, and even other trade partners. But using economic weapons against NATO allies? This is relatively rare in post-war international relations. When these European countries sent troops to Greenland for the Danish-led "Arctic Endurance" exercise, Trump interpreted it as a provocation against the United States and immediately wielded the tariff stick.
Europe's response is equally unprecedented. The eight countries quickly issued a joint statement, warning that Trump's tariff threat "undermines transatlantic relations and risks a dangerous spiral of escalation."
More importantly, French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing the EU to activate the so-called "anti-coercion tool," the EU's most powerful trade weapon, adopted in 2023 but never used. The EU is discussing retaliatory tariffs on €93 billion worth of U.S. goods, which were prepared last year but suspended due to a trade agreement.
Bitcoin's plunge also becomes understandable.
After being tamed by Trump and Wall Street, Bitcoin remains essentially a "U.S. asset," reliant on the stability of the dollar system and the liquidity of U.S. financial markets.
When the U.S. enters a fundamental conflict with its traditional allies, Bitcoin loses its "global" and "decentralized" appeal. Recall the flash crash on October 11, when Trump threatened additional 100% tariffs on Chinese goods, and Bitcoin plummeted by $12,000 in minutes.
In stark contrast, the performance of gold and silver reflects a bet on a "de-Americanized" world.
A key detail: The trade agreement reached between the U.S. and Europe last summer raised tariffs on European products to 15% while reducing tariffs on U.S. industrial goods to zero, criticized as a "moment of humiliation for Europe." Now, Trump's renewed tariff threat proves that compromise does not bring lasting peace but may instead encourage more extortion.
This makes global central banks and investors realize a fundamental problem: In an uncertain multipolar world, only "stateless" assets like gold can provide true security.
We are witnessing a historic turning point. The "liberal international order" established after the Cold War is collapsing, replaced by a new world dominated by economic nationalism. In this new world, alliances become fragile, trade becomes a weapon, and true "safe-haven assets" are no longer investments reliant on specific country or system but physical assets that can transcend different political entities and currency zones, typically resources like gold, silver, copper, and aluminum.
From the perspective of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, an internal revolution may also be needed to break free from Trump and the gravitational pull of the dollar, initiating a wave of "de-Americanization" to make Bitcoin not just a dollar asset but a decentralized asset serving all humanity.
