Crypto risk sentiment improves as Trump shelves Greenland-linked tariffs

The S&P 500 rose 1.16% in the latest session cited in the report, while Bitcoin, Ether and Solana also moved higher, with BTC up about 1.64% to around $90,010, ETH up 3.03% and SOL up 2.36%. The gains came as traders recalibrated after a short-lived risk-off move that had hit both equities and crypto.

Despite the rebound, broader crypto sentiment remained cautious. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index registered a reading of 20 – categorized as “Extreme Fear” – indicating that positioning and psychology were still fragile even as prices bounced.

Garrett Jin, who posts market commentary under the handle GarrettBullish, argued that Tuesday’s decline in US equities was not strongly tied to the Greenland narrative. In his view, the move looked more like a fundamentals-driven rotation inside US tech, with AI-related names leading and other software and computer stocks lagging, rather than a macro panic. He said the more important driver behind global weakness was a sell-off in global bonds.

Jin also pointed to Japan’s government bond market as a separate volatility source. He said a proposal by Japan’s prime minister to cancel the food consumption tax contributed to selling pressure in Japanese government bonds, and he described that development as an independent shock that coincided with Greenland-related headlines. He added that Japanese financial institutions later announced market-stabilizing purchases and that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Japan’s finance minister as officials moved to calm markets.

The bond story gained wider attention at the World Economic Forum in Davos after Bessent said Deutsche Bank’s CEO called him to distance the bank from an analyst report that warned European investors – who hold roughly $8 trillion in US bonds and equities – could accelerate rebalancing away from the dollar and US assets. Bessent said the bank did not stand by the note, according to reports of his remarks.

According to Reuters, the research note by Deutsche Bank strategist George Saravelos linked recent market moves to tensions around Trump’s Greenland dispute and tariff threats, arguing they could encourage dollar rebalancing by European investors. Bessent publicly criticized the report and sought to push back on fears of a rapid sell-off in Treasuries.

The rebound in crypto did not translate into uniform gains across publicly traded crypto-related stocks. Strategy (MSTR) closed up 2.23% while Coinbase (COIN) slipped 0.35%. Mining stocks were also mixed, with Riot Platforms down 4.70% and Mara Holdings up 1.83%.

In the background, tariff headlines can be overstated as a direct driver of crypto price action. Santiment commentary suggests that during downturns, retail traders often seek a single external explanation – including tariff narratives – even when multiple market factors are in play.