Market observers and financial managers believe that the new trade war started by President Trump can establish Bitcoin as a  strong store of value to tackle gold in the long run.

As the Trump trade war continues, the trade representatives in America are imposing tariffs on imported products from countries all around the world.

According to the Wall Street Journal, China claimed the war to be the “largest trade war in the economic history” of the world. In July 2018, the U.S had imposed 25% tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods and a further 10% tariff on $200 billion worth of goods, which China regarded as “irrational” and “completely unacceptable.”

In case of such an economic turmoil can Bitcoin be a trade-war winner?

Until now, in inflationary environments like these, gold has been the savior since decades. People buy gold before the end of the world hoping that the next day it will retain its value. Same would be the case with Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a deflationary currency and is exactly the type of hard asset people would look for in such situations. It is the new gold and an emerging store of value. The volatility of Bitcoin is still a concern for most people but reports actually show that the volatility has reduced significantly even less than that of gold, as said by Brian Kelly on CNBC.

Having said that it is likely that gold would have to share its reputation with that of Bitcoin as a hard asset to get through tough times. Forbes earlier mentioned, that the huge price jump witnessed on July 17, 2018, was a consequence of people exchanging Chinese Yuan for Bitcoin before the devaluation of the currency after a short while.

Buying bitcoin in many cases may be easier than buying gold. Moreover, when tough times like these strike, people are not very choosy about the price but are instead looking for an asset to retain the value of their earnings.

Anatoly Berdnikov, founder, and CEO of Bit.team is of the same mindset.

“Concerns about an escalating trade war with Trump and its implications for the Chinese economy” act as a “major catalyst” for Asian investors, who have been buying cryptocurrency because it’s “seen as more resilient to inflationary pressures and the potential devaluation of the Chinese Yuan.”

While many believe that the trade war will lift Bitcoin from the bear market, people like Scott Weatherill, chief risk manager of B2C2 Japan, are skeptical:

“I don’t think it’s a major driver personally,” emphasizing that the “statement is fairly hard to back up with evidence.”

“If anything, I would suggest that people would find BTC attractive in that context as a trade war would heighten geopolitical risks.”

Having heard opposing views of analysts, it is difficult to say whether the trade war will have a significant impact on bitcoin’s price when the Asians demand it heavily.

However, it is almost certain that people would start looking at bitcoin as an alternative to gold to act as an insurance against disastrous and inflationary situations.