Altcoins Soar as Bitcoin Shows Signs of Breaking Free From Stock Market Correlation
Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano’s ADA led a broad crypto rally on Tuesday, each soaring over 14% in 24 hours, while bitcoin (BTC) climbed above $93,500 amid optimism surrounding U.S.-China trade policy shifts. The strong momentum comes as some analysts suggest BTC is beginning to diverge from traditional equity markets.
Bitcoin gained 6.5% on the day, joined by sizable moves in Solana (SOL), XRP, and BNB, each notching roughly 8% gains. Popular memecoins dogecoin (DOGE) and shiba inu (SHIB) jumped more than 11%, while Sui Network’s SUI led mid-cap performances with a staggering 30% surge.
The total crypto market capitalization swelled by 4.4% to $3.03 trillion, with the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), a benchmark for major tokens, advancing 5%.
The market rally was triggered by comments from former President Donald Trump, who pledged a significant rollback of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump also clarified he wouldn’t seek to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — a move that helped calm investor concerns over monetary policy stability.
Despite the relief rally, some traders expressed skepticism over policy consistency from the administration. This uncertainty has bolstered demand for traditional safe havens like gold and U.S. Treasuries.
“Bitcoin is increasingly being viewed as a hedge, not just against inflation, but also against geopolitical unpredictability,” said Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research. “It’s reacting independently of equities — both during negative and positive news cycles — and that signals its maturing store-of-value potential.”
Market watchers noted that the divergence between bitcoin and U.S. equities may be gaining traction, particularly during the Asian trading session — a time when gold has also posted significant gains.
“There’s growing evidence that institutional flows, possibly from central banks, are moving away from the U.S. dollar and into alternative assets,” said Augustine Fan, head of insights at SignalPlus. “This behavior could mark the beginning of a deeper decoupling trend, reinforcing bitcoin’s long-term bullish thesis.”
HashKey Capital’s Jupiter Zheng echoed the sentiment, saying BTC may finally be shaking off its reputation as a leveraged play on tech stocks.
“With gold at record highs and BTC showing strength, we’re seeing more validation of the digital gold narrative,” Zheng said. “We believe this could be the beginning of a lasting shift in how investors position crypto within their portfolios.”
