If you’ve been watching the news, then you probably have the impression that the world is stressed out about Donald Trump’s tariffs (both implemented and threatened).
And there are good reasons to be paying attention. Many pundits have expressed concerns about the tariffs starting a trade war, and, in fact, China has announced reciprocal tariffs against Trump. Nectar Gann and Juliana Liu write:
China unveiled retaliatory tariffs of 84% on imports of U.S. goods on Wednesday, matching additional tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier in the day and further inflaming a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
Update: Future Cory dropped in to announce that U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports are now (Friday, April 11 2025 at 2:30pm PT) 145%. China has announced retaliatory tariffs of 125% on American products, and Xi Jinping has said that his nation is “not afraid” of a trade war, and will “fight to the end.”
No less than the CEO of one of the biggest banks in the world is concerned about the impacts of these policies and the way that the markets have reacted. Ben Berkowitz with Axios writes:
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday said he expects there to be a recession and for defaults to rise as President Trump’s tariffs roil global financial markets.
That’s all scary news for many investors. Financial assets have been absurdly volatile this week… But there is good news!
How do tariffs affect digital assets?
… is that you have an opportunity here because cryptocurrencies aren’t directly affected by tariffs. After all, they aren’t imported or exported to or from a country.
For crypto investors that’s good news.
Sure, market sentiments can have a short term effect on crypto valuations because many less serious investors get antsy when there is any volatility. That can hurt short term pricing. But over the long term?
Over the long term, solid cryptocurrencies have shown that they continually perform well.
As legendary investor Benjamin Graham said, “In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.”
Now, a smart investor may ask, “How well has crypto done?”
To give you an idea, Ryan Vanzo with The Motley Fool put it this way:
Has there ever been a bad time to buy Bitcoin? Only if you failed to buy and hold for the long term.
Is he serious? Are people who bought and flipped bitcoin really the only people who haven’t made a profit in bitcoin? Vanzo goes on to clarify:
Nearly any investor — even those who bought at the absolute peak of past cycles — would have made a profit if they had only held on through the volatility.
And there we have the rub.
What you have to remember with cryptocurrencies.
What you have to remember is that cryptocurrencies are great investments… if you have a long term vision for the asset.
Those looking to get rich quick, to make a quick buck and get out… those people lose money overall.
Just like any gambler or short-term thinking opportunist tends to lose money overall.
But the people who have the viewpoint of investing for the long haul stand to do well. In many cases very well.
Hopefully for you, you have that long term vision, and if so, then you may be asking…
What cryptocurrencies should I be considering?
Now, like any investment, you’ll need to do your due diligence and make your own decisions with your cryptocurrency allocations. There really is no substitute!
Having said that, let’s go back to bitcoin. Vanzo writes,
There’s a lot to love about Bitcoin. Much of the optimism is built around its potential as a means of exchange. Hundreds of projects are being built right now that could create significant demand for Bitcoin as a means of exchanging value. That’s especially true for Layer 2 projects like the Lightning Network that aim to make low-cost, mass volume Bitcoin transactions a reality. There’s even talk that Bitcoin will eventually become the currency of choice for artificial intelligence (AI) agents, actors that could eventually transact billions upon billions of dollars in value every single day.
That is a huge potential opportunity.
But in addition to bitcoin, Vanzo notes:
Ripple (XRP 5.07%) has been a terrific long-term investment. Since 2017, the value of this popular cryptocurrency has risen by more than 1,500%.
Also:
The past couple of months have been a down cycle for Ripple. The price of its XRP coin has dropped by more almost 40% since its January high. If you’re looking for maximum growth potential, this could be your biggest opportunity of 2025.
In those last two quotes, we see what confuses some people about cryptocurrencies: short term volatility but long term solid profitability.
Alex Carchidi with The Motley Fool also writes,
But some coins, like XRP, (XRP 4.75%) have demonstrated staying power that lasts for years rather than months or weeks.
And that means they stand nearly alone as some of the only cryptos worth buying and holding through 2030 — and perhaps even beyond that.
And that’s what we’re talking about: buying and holding. We’ve talked about HODL previously (here, for example), and it’s definitely worth keeping that in mind).
So, if you’re ready to begin your due diligence and are wanting to take the smart long term perspective on cryptocurrency investing, grab our free Insider’s Guide to Digital IRAs to start (or continue) your journey with investing into cryptocurrencies. And yes, BitIRA can help you get started with a bitcoin IRA – a Ripple IRA – or, perhaps even better, a digital IRA that gives you access to over two dozen of the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies.
