Donald Trump’s upcoming “liberation day” tariff announcements have been framed by some experts as a reset of global trade and could have negative implications for the code.
Much of the attention focuses on political fallouts and trade disruptions, the broader consequences of digital assets, and the global framework that supports them, but deserves better viewing.
Heidi Klevo Leediker, a senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, has recently been described as a “teater” of existing free trade agreements with America’s closest allies in the plan of Bloomberg Television’s US President Donald Trump. This includes what is called “Dirty 15.” This is a group of major trading partners that account for 80% of the US.
Building on unilateral tariffs and non-tariff barriers, Trump’s proposal system represents a complete shift from the global order of cooperatives that defined international trade in the past decades.
Why is this important to cryptography?
Cryptography is essentially cross-border. Its infrastructure, users, capital flows, and regulatory frameworks rely on global integrity and relatively open markets. The transition to economic fragmentation risks disrupting that progress.
Crebo-Rediker notes that countries like Canada are already preparing to diversify away from the US and endure a restructuring of trade and investment relations. In this new era, markets may be more closed, regulations are less consistent, and capital management may become more common.
She might agree (I don’t know), but these are all hostile conditions for crypto adoption. She also warns of a broader setback from the multilateral framework that underpins both global finance and regulatory cooperation.
If America turns inwards elsewhere towards China, where allies are established as defenders of the global system, they could undermine the West’s influence on digital asset standards.
Crypto supporters have cheered on Trump’s recent stubcoin and digital finance embrace, but they need to be careful. A fragmented world is not a world where codes can flourish as countries are pulling in different directions with trade and technology.
Forget Michael Saylor’s vision of Bitcoin exceeding its $200 trillion market capitalization. We can only hope that it can maintain a trillion dollar valuation.
If global adjustments are eroded, so could the outlook for Crypto’s next wave of adoption. If so, it was a fun ride. If not, I’m happy to admit that I’m wrong.
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