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The Best Cryptocurrency to Buy During Trump's Tariff Battle | The Motley Fool

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The Best Cryptocurrency to Buy During Trump's Tariff Battle | The Motley Fool

There’s no denying that new global tariffs have turned the crypto market upside down in 2025. Just take a look at the top 50 cryptocurrencies as ranked by market cap; only a small handful of them are still up year to date.

One of those is Bitcoin (BTC 2.89%), which has proved surprisingly resilient. It’s now up 12% over the past 30 days and 1% for the year. It is, quite simply, the best cryptocurrency to buy during the current tariff battle, and here’s why.

Bitcoin as a safe-haven asset

There’s a simple reason Bitcoin has managed to eke out a 1% gain for the year: Investors are increasingly viewing it as a hedge against economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Historically, it has been uncorrelated with any major asset class. In short, it can zig when other assets zag. So, even if the entire U.S. stock market is collapsing due to tariffs, the crypto still has the potential to buck the trend. That makes it very valuable as a potential hedge.

Moreover, the digital coin has proved, time and time again, to be resilient against economic and geopolitical shocks. Last September, BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) published a 10-page report on the unique diversification properties of Bitcoin.

It included an entire section on how well it has held up during times of crisis. BlackRock looked at six specific shocks to the global economic system that occurred between 2020 and 2024 and found that it actually outperformed gold in five of those six cases.

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That’s interesting, because gold has historically been the one safe-haven asset that investors need to hold during any period of crisis. That’s why gold has soared past the $3,000 mark this year, and why some analysts think that it could even hit $4,000 by early 2026. If you are fearful about the future, you buy gold.

So, if you buy into the notion that Bitcoin is “digital gold,” then it could begin to narrow the performance gap with the precious metal over the course of the next eight months. That could set it up nicely for a nice mini-rally in the second half of 2025, even if global trade is falling off a container ship.

Bitcoin as a potential reserve currency?

On the surface, Bitcoin has very little to do with global trade, tariffs, imports, or exports. There’s only a very limited amount of trade that’s actually settled in that crypto.

Any Bitcoin-related trade typically involves nations that are being sanctioned by the United States, or that are outside the traditional system of global trade.

Image source: Getty Images.

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But hedge fund managers, big institutional investors, and Wall Street executives are starting to talk seriously about the digital coin as a potential reserve currency. In their view, investors around the world are starting to lose faith in the U.S. dollar and the U.S. economy. If this trend accelerates, nations around the world might start to look for an alternative reserve currency.

For more than a decade, the idea of Bitcoin ultimately replacing the U.S. dollar has been a pet theory of crypto enthusiasts. As they see it, the token is superior to any fiat currency. It is digital, global, non-sovereign, and disinflationary.

Until this year, though, few people could have envisioned a day when investors wouldn’t want to invest in U.S. assets, hold U.S. dollars, or buy U.S. Treasury debt. But unfortunately, that’s where we could be headed, if this current tariff situation doesn’t get sorted out fast.

Bitcoin would be a likely beneficiary of any de-dollarization trend. Even if Bitcoin does not become the “official” reserve currency of the world, it’s easy to imagine a scenario where sovereign governments and central banks around the world start to buy more Bitcoin. You know — just in case. And that type of new buying would surely push the price higher.

How high can Bitcoin go in 2025?

It’s been fascinating to watch just how quickly investor perceptions have changed over the past few months. In their view, Bitcoin has transformed from being a highly volatile risk-on asset to a relatively safe risk-off asset.

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As a result, some investors are starting to ratchet up their price forecasts once again. Right now, online prediction markets are suggesting that Bitcoin has a 49% chance of hitting $125,000 in 2025.

Of course, $125,000 is significantly below bullish forecasts from January, when many people expected it to double in price from the $100,000 level. But given all the turmoil and uncertainty over tariffs this year, I would be very comfortable with a gain of 25% for the year.

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Jim Rickards Asked Robert Kiyosaki to Read One Manuscript, Then His View of Global Finance Changed

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Jim Rickards Asked Robert Kiyosaki to Read One Manuscript, Then His View of Global Finance Changed

Key Takeaways

Why Did One Manuscript Change Robert Kiyosaki’s View?

Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the best-selling personal finance book Rich Dad Poor Dad, said an advance manuscript of “The Entropy Trap” shared by Jim Rickards prompted him to rethink how he views global finance. Rickards is an economist, lawyer, and financial commentator known for writing about currencies, debt, and systemic market risk. Kiyosaki said the early reading changed his perspective on where the financial system may be headed.

The reaction was framed around a warning about financial change. The book, written by Mickey M. Maini, “blew my mind and opened my eyes to what & why global financial change is coming,” Kiyosaki described. His comments focused on what he described as a shift in the rules behind wealth, assets, and trust.

The central claim is that wealth could move away from people relying on traditional financial assumptions. Kiyosaki asserted:

“The informed will be tomorrow’s ULTRA RICH. Todays uniformed operating by the old rules of money… will become the new poor.”

The Warning Behind the Claim

The warning centers on assets that depend on trust, including U.S. bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and mutual funds. Kiyosaki framed those instruments as vulnerable under the financial shift he says is coming, placing commonly held investment products at the center of the risk.

That claim is severe, but he presented it as a warning rather than a proven outcome. He also pointed to large bondholders, including Japan, saying they have already started dumping U.S. bonds. He did not provide supporting data in the statement.

The acclaimed author shared:

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“Message from book… ‘All assets that require trust, assets that most people have… such as U.S. bonds, ETFs, mutual funds will be flushed down toilets, all over the world.’”

The broader conflict is whether traditional financial assets remain reliable under the conditions Kiyosaki described. His framing divides investors between those preparing for a changed financial system and those still operating under assumptions he says may no longer hold.

What Still Needs to Be Proven

A planned August study session could clarify the warning Kiyosaki described. He said his study team would examine the message and that Rickards may join, though the evidence behind the claims has not yet been laid out.

For now, the warning rests on Kiyosaki’s account of a manuscript that changed his view. He urged readers to prepare, writing:

“I want you to be one of the world’s new rich.”

What remains unknown is whether market data, policy moves, or investor behavior will confirm the risk he described.

His recent commentary has focused on what he describes as fragility in the global monetary system, particularly around the U.S. dollar. He has pointed to rising debt, central bank policies, and inflation as risks that could trigger a sharp market downturn.

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Alongside those concerns, he has repeatedly highlighted bitcoin, gold, and silver as alternative stores of value. In his view, those assets may help reduce exposure to traditional financial instruments during periods of currency weakness and market turbulence.

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Strategy Is No Longer Just Going to “Inoculate the Market,” Selling Crypto May Be Much More Common. Here’s What That Could Mean for the Stock | The Motley Fool

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Strategy Is No Longer Just Going to “Inoculate the Market,” Selling Crypto May Be Much More Common. Here’s What That Could Mean for the Stock | The Motley Fool

When Strategy (MSTR 0.69%) sold a modest amount of Bitcoin earlier this year, it was a noteworthy development given that the company’s business has centered around buying up as much of the cryptocurrency as it can, and vowing to never sell. And it often boasts of being the largest corporate holder of the digital currency.

The company brushed off the sale of 32 Bitcoins, with management saying it simply wanted to “inoculate the market.” Well, now it appears that Strategy is doing much more than just that, and there could be more significant cryptocurrency sales in the future.

Image source: Getty Images.

Strategy unveils a Bitcoin monetization program

On June 29, Strategy released a framework going forward that it says will “enhance liquidity, preserve long-term Bitcoin exposure, and support long-term value creation for shareholders.” Among the notable components is its Bitcoin monetization program.

Within that program, the company says it may sell some of its cryptocurrency holdings for multiple reasons, including to fund a USD reserve, fund dividends or interest expense, or to fund repurchases of digital credit securities or common stock.

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While the company says it remains committed to Bitcoin for the long term and it’s the company’s “primary treasury reserve asset,” it’s a significant change of course for Strategy, which was previously heavily against ever selling the digital asset.

Strategy Stock Quote

Today’s Change

(-0.69%) $-0.69

Current Price

$100.08

The stock is as risky and volatile as ever

Whether or not Strategy buys or sells Bitcoin doesn’t change the fact that this is a highly risky and speculative stock to own. While crypto fans may be disappointed in the company’s change in strategy, selling Bitcoin will likely not be enough to make the business any better or worse as an investment.

In just the past 12 months, the stock has plummeted a whopping 75% as volatility in digital assets has drastically weighed on its earnings, with the company incurring $12.8 billion in losses over the trailing 12 months, on revenue of $490 million.

That’s not likely to change significantly, even if Strategy offloads some of its crypto holdings, because with such a large exposure to Bitcoin, how the cryptocurrency performs will inevitably impact the company’s bottom line in a big way. This year, the leading cryptocurrency is down 28% as investor excitement around it has largely cooled off, which has proven disastrous for Strategy’s stock as well. And at this stage, there’s little reason to anticipate a recovery anytime soon.

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An Easy-to-Miss Radio Traffic Jam Is Behind Many Home WiFi Slowdowns

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An Easy-to-Miss Radio Traffic Jam Is Behind Many Home WiFi Slowdowns

Key Takeaways

Your WiFi can feel rock-solid at midnight and oddly sluggish by breakfast, even when you have not touched a single setting. The culprit is often outside your walls: a crowded slice of public radio spectrum where your router has to negotiate space with every nearby network, plus a grab bag of household gadgets that leak interference. Add peak-hours demand and the signal-blocking quirks of building materials and weather, and “slow internet” starts to look less like a billing issue and more like an invisible traffic problem you are forced to share.

When WiFi slows down without warning

One day your home WiFi feels snappy, the next it drags, even though your router hasn’t moved and your internet plan hasn’t changed. That swing is real, and it’s usually not your imagination or a “bad day” from your ISP. WiFi lives on shared airwaves, and those airwaves get crowded, noisy, and sometimes just plain finicky.

Think of your connection as a conversation in a busy room. Your laptop and router may be talking just fine, but the room itself can fill up fast with other chatter. What looks like a mystery slowdown is often the result of invisible competition and interference that changes hour by hour.

The battle of competing networks

Most homes still rely heavily on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi bands, which are unlicensed spectrum in the US. That “free for everyone” reality is convenient, but it also means your network shares space with your neighbors, their smart TVs, their work laptops, and every nearby router doing the same thing.

Congestion has a rhythm. During common work-from-home and school-from-home windows, especially 8-10 AM, and again in the evening 6-10 PM, more devices are streaming, video calling, syncing, and downloading updates. Even if you pay for fast broadband, your WiFi link can become the bottleneck when the local radio environment gets packed.

Interference inside your home

Your own house can sabotage you. A microwave is the classic culprit because it can leak noise near 2.4 GHz, exactly where many WiFi networks still operate. Older cordless phones, some baby monitors, and even dense clusters of Bluetooth gadgets can add more clutter, especially in smaller apartments where everything sits close together.

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Then there’s physics. Concrete, metal, and even water (think aquariums or thick pipes in walls) absorb and scatter radio signals. A router shoved behind a TV, tucked into a cabinet, or stuck in a far corner forces your devices to “hear” through more obstacles, lowering speeds and making dropouts more likely.

Weather, channels, and what you can do tonight

Environmental changes can matter too. Higher humidity and rain can slightly increase signal loss, and shifting temperatures can change how radio waves propagate around a neighborhood. You might never notice on its own, but paired with congestion it can tip a marginal connection into a frustrating one.

The 2.4 GHz band is also channel-limited. In the US there are 11 channels, but only 1, 6, and 11 don’t overlap. Many routers default to “auto channel,” so nearby networks can hop around trying to escape interference, sometimes creating instability. Practical fixes: prefer 5 GHz (or 6 GHz if you have WiFi 6E/7 gear), place the router centrally and higher up, and use a WiFi analyzer app to pick a less crowded channel instead of leaving it on auto.

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