Trump’s Tariffs Are Back — But This Time, Crypto Wins | by Chip Mahoney | The Capital | Feb, 2025
Tariffs were supposed to protect American businesses. Instead, they’ve fueled a financial escape route that Washington can’t stop — crypto
We’ve seen this movie before. In Trump’s first term, tariffs were a wrecking ball. The goal? Punish China, bring manufacturing back, and make America more self-reliant. But that’s not what happened.
- Farmers got crushed. China hit back with its own tariffs, choking U.S. agriculture exports. A $28 billion bailout was needed just to keep them afloat.
- American consumers paid the price. Businesses didn’t eat the costs — they passed them on. Prices rose, inflation ticked up, and the trade war hurt the people it was supposed to help.
- Bitcoin surged. Every time economic uncertainty hit, BTC became the safety net for investors fleeing traditional markets.
Now, Trump is back and doubling down on tariffs — this time, even bigger. But this isn’t 2018 anymore. The world has changed. Crypto is no longer a fringe idea — it’s a $2 trillion market. And just as the government starts playing the same old tariff game, USDC just crossed $50 billion in market cap. That’s not a coincidence.
