Thursday, April 3, was a pretty rough day for the markets. Trade tariffs of an unprecedented scale sent shockwaves through equities, commodities and crypto markets. But even in the chaos, Bitcoin (BTC) — often dismissed by skeptics as too volatile — surprised everyone by holding its own. Even Peter Schiff, who has always been critical of cryptocurrencies, was surprised at how well it handled the market's ups and downs.

With a 5.7% drop, Bitcoin's decline was similar to the NASDAQ's losses and slightly better than the Russell 2000's performance. It was not a huge win, but it was not a total disaster either. 

Schiff, who usually sees Bitcoin as a bubble waiting to burst, admitted that its opposite relationship to gold might have helped soften the impact. Gold also dropped on that day, and if the usual relationship between the two assets played out, that might have helped keep Bitcoin from dropping further.

There was also speculation that Strategy (MSTR), the software intelligence firm with a well-documented Bitcoin buying habit, may have been an active buyer during the sell-off. If that is true, it might have helped keep prices from dropping even more. 

The company, which has made it a central part of its strategy to buy Bitcoin, has been known to step in when markets look weak. It is not clear if that is what happened on Thursday, but a lot of people in trading circles were talking about it.