Dogecoin (DOGE -0.66%) is going through a modest valuation pullback in Tuesday’s trading. The cryptocurrency’s token price was down 2.1% as of 6:45 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, Bitcoin was up 2%, and Ethereum was down 1.5%.

Following a recent surge in bullish activity for the crypto market, investors are wavering on whether to back the market-leading Bitcoin or to put their money into riskier altcoins. Even though Dogecoin’s recent valuation run-up appears to be taking a bit of a breather, its token price is still up roughly 70.5% over the last three months.

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Dogecoin sees small slip as Bitcoin dominance regains some footing

Even though Bitcoin has seen an impressive 44% rally over the last three months, Dogecoin and many other altcoins have seen significantly greater gains across the stretch. Bitcoin continues to look like the safest individual token in the overall cryptocurrency space, but some investors have been moving more money into altcoins as the bullish backdrop for the crypto market has strengthened. Following a run of big valuation wins for the crypto market, investors are taking some altcoin money off the table and putting it back into Bitcoin today.

What’s next for Dogecoin?

Positive valuation momentum for Bitcoin has typically been a bullish catalyst for Dogecoin and the broader crypto market, and this will likely continue to be the case over the long term. Bitcoin recently hit a record high of more than $123,000 per token, and its rise to that level helped lift many other tokens in the crypto market.

Investors are taking some time to assess what’s next for crypto valuations and how aggressive they want to be with their strategies. For better or worse, valuation moves between Bitcoin and Dogecoin will likely become closely correlated again in the near future.

Top meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE -1.56%) wasn’t looking like much of an alpha animal on Thursday. As of 4:00 p.m. ET, it was down slightly in price by 0.3%, late in a day when uncertainty on the future of current tariffs was rising. Many investors opted to buy stocks instead of transacting in altcoins like Dogecoin, as the S&P 500 index closed the day higher (by 0.3%).

Tariff to-and-fro

Cryptocurrencies, by their nature, are speculative investments, and Dogecoin — a one-time satirical project that has improbably become a leading altcoin — is a particularly speculative play. Such assets can be volatile at the best of times, and that goes double in periods of macroeconomic worry.

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That isn’t to say the global economy isn’t doing badly. However, the tariffs enacted by the Trump administration continue to weigh on investor psyches.

Thursday was a particularly up-and-down day for this, as a Court of International Trade ruled late Wednesday that some of those tariffs were levied illegally. But an appeals court granted the administration’s request for a temporary pause on that ruling the following day.

The tariffs are already a trial for many crypto holders. That’s because their potential dampening effect on both the U.S. and global economy risks draining investment out of speculative plays like crypto into those considered safer, such as government bonds or blue chip stocks. So, the tariff yo-yo on Thursday didn’t do Dogecoin any favors.

Useful utility cryptos

Although he’s backed down on some of the more severe tariffs, Trump seems very intent on keeping many in place. Given that, we shouldn’t expect the legal fight over them to abate anytime soon. For crypto-heads, perhaps it’s best to stock up on some of the more utilitarian coins and tokens, such as Ethereum (ETH -0.82%) or Solana (SOL -2.29%)