Tariff escalation drags Bitcoin toward $67k; major cryptos slide
President Donald Trump raised the global tariff rate to 15%, reviving trade tensions and legal uncertainty after a recent Supreme Court ruling had appeared to limit earlier emergency trade measures. The administration’s move—applying the 15% levy widely, including to China, across a 150-day window—reintroduced macro risk that weighed on risk assets and sent major cryptocurrencies lower. Bitcoin fell to about $67,526 (down ~1.4% in 24 hours and ~2.1% for the week). Ether dropped 1.8% to $1,951 (down ~2.5% weekly). XRP fell 4.4% on the day and ~8.4% over seven days to $1.39. Solana declined 3.8% to $83.25. Dogecoin lost nearly 5% on the day and over 11% for the week. Cardano and BNB also slipped. European hesitation on related trade agreements added to uncertainty. The story underscores that, until tariff policy stabilizes, crypto markets are likely to track broader risk sentiment rather than crypto-specific fundamentals.
Bearish
The administration’s tariff escalation reintroduces cross-border trade risk and legal ambiguity, which reduces risk appetite across asset classes. Historically, macro shocks—trade wars, tariff moves or major geopolitical escalation—have pressured risk-on assets including cryptocurrencies, causing short-term declines as traders move to safe havens or reduce leverage. The article reports multi-day and intra-day losses across major tokens (BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, DOGE), indicating a market-wide risk-off reaction. Short-term impact: elevated volatility, further downside pressure and correlation with macro headlines rather than crypto-specific drivers; traders may reduce long exposure or tighten stops. Long-term impact: if tariffs persist, slower global growth and higher market uncertainty could cap crypto risk premia, making rallies harder without clear on-chain demand catalysts or positive regulatory/ institutional flows. Comparable past events include tariff-driven sell-offs in 2018 and risk-off episodes during geopolitical spikes, both of which produced sharp short-term drops followed by recoveries when policy clarity or stimulus returned. Overall, expect near-term bearish pressure until policy clarity and risk sentiment improve.