Early in the morning, when I was awakened by my phone, US stock futures had already plunged. I checked Twitter and found that it was that former president causing a midnight outburst again. This time, his tariff comments caught the market off guard and caused a sharp drop. Gold responded with a surge, but my portfolio was bleeding — this might be a new chapter in the "see it to believe it" series.

What’s more troubling is the data black hole. The government shutdown has paused the release of key economic indicators, leaving the market like a blind man feeling an elephant. Official reports say inflation has decreased, but the prices of coffee on the streets and my credit card bills tell a different story. Private analysts estimate that the real inflation rate may have already exceeded the central bank’s target by several times. Funds are voting with their feet: over 800 million dollars have been withdrawn from risk assets in the past week.

When traditional markets are in chaos, it actually gives us a chance to reassess our allocations.

**Regarding Hedging Strategies**

The combination of gold and Bitcoin no longer seems so crazy. My personal approach is to allocate a quarter of my portfolio to gold ETFs, while building my Bitcoin position gradually — after all, no one knows what might happen tomorrow morning. On-chain data shows that large addresses have been buying heavily in recent days, with an average inflow of 300 BTC per hour. At times like this, following the smart money is never a bad idea.

**Opportunity Window for Infrastructure Assets**

On the flip side of market panic, some niche sectors are quietly making gains. For example, Layer 2 solutions have seen astonishing gains over the past week. Institutional funds are starting to pour money into crypto infrastructure, and protocols capable of generating real revenue are especially favored.

Take a certain Bitcoin Layer 2 project, for instance — its mainnet is about to undergo a major upgrade, and market expectations are high. Such nodes often cause short-term volatility, but in the long run, infrastructure projects that solve real problems still have solid value support.

**How to Build a Defensive System**

No matter how optimistic you are about the market, risk management always comes first. My current approach involves a three-layer defense: