Tariff escalation rhetoric has revived trade-war uncertainty, while geopolitical tensions with Iran add a second layer of risk premium to global markets. In this environment, capital typically rotates away from high-beta assets. The key observation: Bitcoin is behaving more like a risk asset than a hedge. Gold continues to absorb defensive flows, while crypto lags. This doesn’t invalidate the long-term thesis — but it clarifies the short-term narrative: When liquidity tightens and uncertainty rises, volatility increases — and speculative assets feel it first.