Bitcoin & Ethereum Sink as Trump’s China Tariffs Take Effect

The ripple effects of the White House’s latest trade policy moves are continuing to pressure global markets—and crypto is no exception. Bitcoin slid 4.1% to $76,550, while Ethereum took a sharper hit, down 8.3% in the past 24 hours. The declines come as President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on Chinese imports officially went into effect just after midnight on Tuesday.

Ethereum has seen the steepest drop among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, now trading at its lowest level since March 2023.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bitcoin briefly dipped below the $75,000 mark—just hours before the tariffs kicked in. The world’s largest crypto asset has now fallen nearly 30% since reaching a peak of over $109,000 in January, shortly before Trump was sworn in for a second term.

Altcoins were also hit hard. Dogecoin plummeted 16.3% on the day, while Solana and Cardano dropped 18% and 23.7% respectively over the past week, according to CoinGecko data.

“It’s been a miserable run for investors since the start of February, with more than $1.2 trillion in value wiped from the crypto market,” said Pav Hundal, lead market analyst at Swyftx, in an interview with Decrypt. “The markets need a circuit breaker on sentiment as much as anything else.”

Data from CoinGlass revealed widespread liquidations across the crypto space, with about $411 million erased in the last 24 hours. “This has been a very emotional journey,” Hundal added. “Everyone’s operating at extremes and there’s no in-between.”

Tariffs Fuel Broader Turmoil

The crypto downturn reflects mounting anxiety in global financial markets as Trump’s aggressive tariff escalation with China intensifies what many see as a full-blown trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Asian stock markets opened deep in the red on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 2.6% by midday, and Australia’s ASX 200 fell by 2%.

This followed a 1.5% decline in the S&P 500 on Tuesday, pushing the index down nearly 20% since mid-February—approaching bear market territory.

“We’ve entered a new era of protectionism, and what’s worrying is we still have no more clarity on where it’s all going to settle,” Hundal noted. “All eyes now will be on how quickly the U.S. can barter new trade and non-trade deals.”

Bond markets also showed signs of strain. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury surged between 4.2% and 4.4% late Tuesday, marking one of the fastest intraday climbs since World War II.

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s auction of three-year Treasury notes—marking the first such sale after Trump’s so-called Liberation Day—saw the weakest demand since late 2023. That decline has raised concerns about foreign investors' appetite for U.S. government debt amid escalating trade tensions, which some analysts warn could lead to a “once-in-a-lifetime” market breakdown.