John Karow
Precious Metals Advisor
John Karow is an experienced lawyer and Precious Metals Advisor at Scottsdale Bullion & Coin. He holds degrees from Lehigh University, the University of Missouri, Cornell University, and St. John’s University School of Law. John is a knowledgeable authority in precious metals, dedicated to helping clients navigate economic cycles and gold and silver investments.
Eric Sepanek
SBC Founder
Eric Sepanek is the founder of Scottsdale Bullion & Coin, established in 2011. With extensive experience in the precious metals industry, he is dedicated to educating Americans on the wealth preservation power of gold and silver.
Trump’s tariff roller coaster has finally rattled the gold market, as the market narrowly avoided getting slapped with a colossal import tax. This close regulatory brush-up has reignited some confusion between the investment merits of gold and Bitcoin, unique assets with specific functions.
In this week’s The Gold Spot, Scottsdale Bullion & Coin Founder Eric Sepanek and Precious Metals Advisor John Karow discuss the gold tariff scare, how gold fundamentally differs from Bitcoin, and what protections the yellow metal offers investors.
Gold Tariff Confusion Sparks Volatility
At the end of last week, a surprise ruling imposing tariffs on gold bars threw the market into a frenzy. A widely circulated Customs and Border Protection (CBP) email to a precious metals refiner in Switzerland indicated that 100-ounce and 1-kilogram gold bars would be subject to a 39% import tax as part of Trump’s most recent tariff gambit.
The Trump administration swiftly responded to the rumors, calling the reports “misinformation.” By Monday, August 11th, 2025, President Trump cleared the air with a no-nonsense Truth Social post, stating: “Gold will not be Tariffed!” In the brief window between the initial leak and the official clarification, gold prices swung wildly as spooked investors rushed to react.
A key takeaway from this frantic episode is the deep-rooted volatility of markets ever since Trump’s trade war was launched in April. Furthermore, the initial targeting of gold bars demonstrates how keen the government is to track and control these investments.
“The markets are so sensitive right now because the tariffs are taxes, a way for the government to influence and control the flow of goods across its borders.”
John Karow
Precious Metals Advisor
Crypto’s Road From Decentralized Darling to Government Target
Over the past few months, the Trump administration has done more than any previous administration to promote the adoption of cryptocurrency. By repealing regulatory safeguards, accelerating use in the banking sector, and even opening up 401(k)s to these investments, the administration is effectively giving its stamp of approval to a once-fringe space. Now, the crypto world is getting a second look by investors, wondering if there’s an opportunity.
The nuanced answer to this crucial question requires an assessment of Bitcoin’s trajectory over time. Initially, crypto’s whole purpose was to offer people a decentralized, unregulated, non-taxable, and completely private payment system. Following years of widely covered scandals and bankruptcies, the government started to intervene in the sector.
Crypto’s thin veil of decentralization was pierced in 2014 when early Bitcoin advocate and BitInstant founder Charlie Shrem was charged with three federal offenses for operating a money-transmitting business without a license. The government’s intrusion accelerated with the collapse of FTX and the jailing of Sam Bankman-Fried, and the space’s coveted privacy came to an end when Binance went public.
In reality, the crypto-space as it stands today is a stark contrast to where originators intended it to go. Instead of maintaining privacy and security through the blockchain, most people trade on exchanges, which are increasingly regulated and monitored by the government. Furthermore, the predatory actions of get-rich-quick opportunists and Ponzi scheme architects have tainted the market with a reputation for volatility, uncertainty, and chaos.
Is there opportunity in crypto? Yes, but it’s high risk, high reward. Cryptocurrency is insanely volatile with massive upswings to the upside and downside.–
The Pitfalls of Comparing Gold to Bitcoin
Ever since Bitcoin’s release, people have been tempted to compare Bitcoin to gold. Unfortunately, this conflation can lead investors to misalign their asset allocations and investment goals, as the two assets serve entirely different functions. The World Gold Council has even gone on the record stating that Bitcoin is not the new gold.
Some of the most crucial areas of distinction include:
Volatility
The gold market is widely recognized as a stable market with decades of steady price action regardless of direction, insulated from broader market volatility. The opposite is true for cryptocurrencies, which have become synonymous with violent spikes and falls.
Privacy
There might have been a time when Bitcoin’s privacy rivaled gold’s, but the cryptocurrency’s recent regulatory embrace has undone most of those protections. For centuries, gold has given investors peace of mind regarding their privacy.
Value
The cryptocurrency market often feels like the dot-com bubble on repeat, with short-lived winners and outright losers emerging daily. In contrast, physical gold has earned global esteem as one of the longest-standing assets to hold inherent value.
“If you hold gold, you will never go to zero with a bar or coin or whatever you decide to purchase.”
Eric Sepanek
SBC Founder
China’s Merging of Crypto & Digital Currency
The unintended consequences of widespread crypto adoption are starkly visible in China, one of the world’s most authoritarian regimes. In recent years, the People’s Bank of China has fused cryptocurrency concepts with its central bank digital currency (CBDC) to tighten control and surveillance over its vast population. This system tracks purchasing behavior and can even force citizens to spend within set time limits.
It’s tempting to believe such an Orwellian blend of centralized payment systems and government crackdowns could never take root in the US, but the groundwork has already been laid. The government is enmeshed with the operations of monopolistic tech giants that monitor online behavior. The surging adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) only makes these privacy concerns more pressing.
The Added Protection of Investment-Grade Coins
Gold’s differentiation from Bitcoin isn’t the only worthwhile takeaway from this volatile weekend. The narrowly escaped tariff also highlights the varying degrees of protection offered by different gold products. For example, gold bars (the least private gold product) tend to be more regulated and are subject to more tax scrutiny than investment-grade coins.
If you’d like to discover more about how these rare coins can secure your privacy while protecting your wealth, request access to our FREE Investment Grade Report. It covers everything you need to know about adding these unique investments to your portfolio for maximum stability and security.
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