Why crypto prices spike yet Dow Jones, US dollar index fall

Crypto prices rose this week as US stock indices like the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and the Russell 2000 dropped sharply. The US dollar index also had the worst performance since April, when Donald Trump announced his “reciprocal” tariffs.

Bitcoin (BTC) jumped to a record high of $111,900, while the market capitalization of all altcoins excluding Bitcoin soared to $1.29 trillion, the highest point since February this year.

The Dow Jones, which tracks 30 blue-chip companies, dropped to $41,340, down by 3.45% from its highest level this month. Other top blue-chip indices fell by over 1.2%, erasing billions of dollars in value.

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback’s performance against a basket of currencies, dropped to $99.10, moving into a technical correction. A correction happens when an asset’s price drops by 10% from a local top.

Crypto prices outperform

Bitcoin price outperformed U.S. stocks and the greenback because of its emerging role as a safe-haven asset as BlackRock predicted in this white paper. In it, the biggest asset manager in the world noted that gold was becoming a hedge against the soaring US public debt.

Therefore, Bitcoin rose after Moody’s downgraded the US credit rating from Triple-A to a notch lower, citing the substantial debt. Moody’s joined the other two rating agencies, S&P Global and Fitch, which have also slashed their Triple-A rating.

The sell-off of stocks and the US dollar continued after the House of Representatives voted for Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which cuts over $4 trillion in taxes. The bill is estimated to increase the public debt by $4 trillion to $5 trillion over a decade, a concerning development as the national debt is approaching $37 trillion.

U.S. stocks dropped on Friday after Trump warned that the U.S. would implement a 50% tariff on European goods on June 1. The EU has warned that it will reciprocate, a move that will disrupt annual trade volumes worth over $1.7 trillion. 

Analysts note that Bitcoin’s fundamentals are strong enough to withstand these concerns. For one, data shows that demand among institutions is rising, as supply continues falling this year. Bitcoin is also seen as digital gold, which may help it do well in the long term.