Tariffs have had a colossal negative impact on the crypto market. Nearly every major cryptocurrency is now down for the year, and some are down as much as 50%.
However, if you only focus on the past 30 days, a different picture emerges. Of the top 20 cryptocurrencies ranked by market cap, a handful of them are actually posting slightly positive returns. And, if you're willing to peek outside the top 20, it's possible to find some coins that are up 30% or more over the past 30 days. Here are my top three picks.
1. Bitcoin
While Bitcoin (BTC +0.36%) is still down nearly 20% from an all-time high of $109,000 in January 2025, the narrative has started to shift. Heading into April 2, Bitcoin seemed destined to be yet another casualty of the new Trump tariffs. But over the past 30 days, Bitcoin is up nearly 5%.
CRYPTO: BTC
Key Data Points
That means Bitcoin might have some staying power after all. A lot of this staying power can be attributed to the "digital gold" investment thesis, which says that Bitcoin can be a hedge against economic uncertainty, inflation, and geopolitical risk, just like physical gold. Bitcoin enthusiasts have been making this point for years, and now it appears to be going mainstream.
Still skeptical? Take a closer look at investor flows into and out of the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). During February and March, these turned negative, as investors fled all risk assets. But in late April, these flows once again turned positive. If you take into account the growing lack of trust in U.S. markets, it's easy to understand why. Investors need a new place to put their money, and Bitcoin is emerging as a possible option.
2. Solana
Solana (SOL +1.84%) has emerged as the leading rival to Ethereum (ETH +0.28%), the top Layer-1 blockchain network in the world. Until recently, Ethereum had the clear upper hand, and still dwarfs Solana in terms of overall market cap.
However, Solana and Ethereum appear to be going in opposite directions. Ethereum is still down more than 50% for the year, and nearly 20% over the past 30 days. In contrast, Solana is up 5% over the past 30 days, and is steadily clawing back losses from earlier in the year.
CRYPTO: SOL
Key Data Points
If you deep dive into blockchain metrics, things look even better for Solana. At the beginning of the year, Solana topped Ethereum in terms of 24-hour trading volume on its decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges. Then, in April, Solana topped Ethereum in terms of staking market cap, an important metric for measuring user activity. Moreover, Solana now accounts for nearly one-half (46%) of all decentralized app revenue in the blockchain world.
All of which is to say: Solana is seeing a surprising spike in blockchain activity amid all this tariff uncertainty. In certain areas, it's starting to eat Ethereum's lunch. So, if you're looking for a solid Layer 1 blockchain network with plenty of upside potential, it could be time to add Solana to your shopping list.
3. Bittensor
Finally, there's Bittensor (TAO +3.54%), which has emerged as the top artificial intelligence (AI) crypto, with a nearly $3 billion market cap. It now ranks as the 33rd-largest cryptocurrency in the world.
But the really exciting thing about Bittensor is that it is up a whopping 30% over the past 30 days. The AI investment thesis is making a comeback, and Bittensor is one way to play this trend. CoinMarketCap describes Bittensor as an "open-source protocol that powers a decentralized, blockchain-based learning network." In short, Bittensor is basically a blockchain for AI projects.
Image source: Getty Images.
The caveat here, of course, is that investors appear to be pushing up the prices of all AI cryptos indiscriminately, without any real regard for key fundamentals. Thus, when choosing between AI cryptos, you need to find one metric that can help you cut through the noise.
For me, this metric is coin supply, and it can easily be found on sites such as CoinMarketCap. The lower the number, the better. Bittensor has a maximum lifetime circulation of just 21 million coins. Crypto enthusiasts will recognize this number immediately: It's the same number of coins as the maximum lifetime supply of Bitcoin. By way of comparison, other AI cryptos typically have coin supplies measured in the billions.
Buy cryptocurrencies for the long haul
Investors are trying to figure out what the new normal is going to be. That's why the current situation is so frustrating -- nobody knows what the current tariff policy is. And, even if they do, it could change tomorrow. Moreover, if every nation tries to do a deal of its own with the White House, then things could get really confusing once the 90-day "cool off" period ends.
As a result, it's best to focus on the long-term outlook for any crypto and not any potential short-term gains from tariff uncertainty. From my perspective, that makes Bitcoin the single best crypto to buy in the wake of Trump's latest wave of tariffs.
