Maybe tariffs aren’t so bad for crypto after all. This top cryptocurrency is up 144% since April.
It’s now been slightly more than four months since the White House announced “Liberation Day” tariffs. So there’s been enough time to project which cryptocurrency could be the biggest winner of Trump’s tariffs.
The answer might surprise you. It’s not Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), which was everyone’s “flight to safety” option during the peak of tariff uncertainty. Instead, the biggest winner of Trump’s tariffs appears to be Ethereum (ETH 0.66%).
Performance of different cryptocurrencies under tariffs
I’ve charted the performance of seven different cryptocurrencies from April 1 to August 1: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA), Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE), Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), and Sui (CRYPTO: SUI).
Bitcoin / U.S. dollar chart by TradingView
The performance of Ethereum jumps right off the chart. It’s the clear outlier, and it’s not even close. Ethereum is up a whopping 144% in that time. By way of comparison, Bitcoin is only up 39%. Two hard-charging altcoins — XRP and Sui — have also outperformed Bitcoin. XRP is up 56%, while Sui is up 70%.
At the same time, two cryptocurrencies — Solana and Dogecoin — appear to be closely tracking the performance of Bitcoin. Both are up 37%. There is only one clear underperformer. That’s Cardano, which is up only 25%.
Image source: Getty Images.
Based on these numbers alone, it appears that the clear winner of Trump’s tariffs is Ethereum. It has more than doubled the performance of the next-closest cryptocurrency, and it has absolutely trounced Bitcoin.
Do investors need to rethink tariffs?
The tricky part is interpreting this data point. What does it mean about tariffs and their impact on cryptocurrencies? Think back to April 2, when the crypto market reacted negatively to the onslaught of unprecedented tariffs against every major trading nation. The immediate instinct of many was to pile into Bitcoin.
Four months later, that investment thesis looks increasingly flawed. For one, maybe tariffs are not so bad for cryptocurrencies after all. How can anyone make the argument that tariffs are harmful for Ethereum if it’s up a resounding 144%? Secondly, maybe Bitcoin is not the slam-dunk investment everyone thought it was. It’s still the market benchmark, but altcoins are now outperforming it.
Of course, four months is not long, and it remains to be seen what happens over the remainder of 2025. However, I’ve already started to recalibrate my thinking about tariffs, their impact on the economy, and their potential impact on the crypto market.
What other factors might be at work?
There are other possible explanations for Ethereum’s heroic performance over the past four months. One of these is the unprecedented growth of Ethereum treasury companies over the past few months. These companies do one thing: buy Ethereum. They raise money from investors and then turn around and plow it into Ethereum. At some point, that buying pressure has to force up the price, right?
Earlier this summer, SharpLink Gaming (NASDAQ: SBET) announced that it was transforming into an Ethereum treasury company. Then, in late June, Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR 14.68%) did the same. Others have since followed their lead.
For me, Bitmine is the more interesting example, and not just because it hired Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee to be its chairman. As you might have guessed from its name, Bitmine Immersion Technologies was a Bitcoin mining company. But now it’s apparently ditching that business model.
Doesn’t that strike you as odd? It’s a bit like a lifelong Yankees fan deciding to become a Red Sox fan. It’s just not supposed to happen. Bitmine Immersion Technologies could be a clear signal of a significant shift in market sentiment.
What should investors expect next?
While Ethereum has been the biggest winner so far, its price has historically been highly correlated with that of Bitcoin. So I don’t expect that type of outperformance to last forever. Most likely, the returns of Ethereum and Bitcoin will be more similar over the remaining months of 2025.
At the end of the day, it’s hard not to be bullish on Ethereum right now. After a weak start to the year, it has now emerged as a legitimate contender for top-performing major cryptocurrency of the year. You really can’t argue with returns of 144%.
Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, Solana, Sui, and XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Sui, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
