Bitcoin's Resilience During Tariff Chaos Impresses Wall Street Firm Bernstein

Previous crises saw the world's largest cryptocurrency tumble 50-70%, the report said.

• The team at investment bank Bernstein is impressed with bitcoin's performance so far during the tariff difficulties.
• Turning to the bitcoin miners, Bernstein said tariffs negatively impact U.S. supply chains and this could have implications for their share of the network hashrate, the report said.

Bitcoin's ability to hold steady amidst trade turmoil has caught the attention of investment bank Bernstein. Unlike previous crises that saw significant drops of 50-70% in the cryptocurrency's value, bitcoin has shown remarkable resilience during the recent tariff challenges.

Bernstein's analysts highlighted concerns regarding U.S. miners due to the adverse effects tariffs could have on their share of the network hashrate, affecting their competitiveness within the industry.

The report emphasized a shift in demand towards more robust capital as indicated by bitcoin's price behavior. Institutional interest through ETFs and corporate treasuries has bolstered bitcoin's "digital gold" narrative.

While this positive trend is unfolding, Bernstein warned about the detrimental impact tariffs could have on miners' operations, disrupting supply chains and potentially affecting their market position. The firm suggested that established players like Riot Platforms (RIOT), IREN (IREN), MARA Holdings (MARA), and CleanSpark (CLSK) might benefit from their scale and AI capabilities to strengthen their market share amid these challenges.

Still, tariffs are bad news for the miners.

They impact the mining supply chain, and this has negative implications for the U.S. bitcoin miners' hashrate, Bernstein said. The hashrate refers to the total combined computational power used to mine and process transactions on a proof-of-work blockchain, and is a proxy for competition in the industry and mining difficulty.

Large bitcoin miners, such as Riot Platforms (RIOT), IREN (IREN), MARA Holdings (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK), could gain market share as they are already scaled and have artificial intelligence (AI) optionality, the report added.