President Donald Trump’s sweeping 10% universal tariff announcement is already sending ripple effects through the global financial system.

Investors, fearing broader market disruption, appear to be pivoting to Bitcoin, stablecoins, and high-volatility altcoins as safe-haven bets.

“Even penguins will face a 10% tariff,” market analyst BloFin Academy wrote on X. “This means that the operating costs of the global trade network closely related to the United States will be significantly increased.”

BloFin Academy observed that BTC 30-day ATM implied volatility rose sharply to 48.34%, while Ethereum Implied volatility spiked to 64.36%. Implied volatility (IV) reflects the market’s expectations of future price swings.

In particular, Solana saw a surge in volatility, scoring as high as 92.04%, indicating that altcoin traders expect increased price risk.

The analyst added that many countries are now “teaming up regionally” in an attempt to cushion their economies. But that shift is deepening global divides — and pushing capital away from U.S.-linked assets.'

Investors to move offshore

Bitcoin is a safer option as it is not tracked by the U.S. dollar and is gaining popularity among investors, noted BloFin Academy .

The analyst added that Bitcoin is now providing a 6.03% annual return, which makes it a much safer bet in the crypto world during times of global turmoil. According to Coinglass, the year-over-year return for Bitcoin was 121.59% in 2024.

Ethereum is also attracting some interest with a 5.42% return, but it's riskier and more speculative, per the analyst. As per data , Ethereum's annual return for 2024 was approximately 46.42%.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at 82,521.27, down by 3.94% in the last 24 hours, per Kraken’s price feed.