Newsletters
Bitcoin’s price fell sharply below $110,000 on Saturday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods, reigniting fears of a renewed trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value dropped more than 9% over the past 24 hours, erasing a weekly gain of nearly 10%. According to data from analytics firm CoinMarketCap, the global cryptocurrency market capitalization plunged 10.32% to $3.7 trillion.
Other major digital assets also suffered steep declines. Ethereum fell 12% to $3,820, while XRP dropped to $2.48, as traders sold off risk assets across both digital and traditional markets.
The sell-off followed Trump’s announcement late Thursday that the U.S. would impose an additional 100% customs duty on all Chinese imports starting November 1. He also pledged to apply export controls on all critical software, escalating what he called a necessary response to China’s "extraordinarily aggressive" trade behavior.
On his social media platform, Trump said China had sent a "very hostile letter" indicating plans to implement broad export restrictions on nearly all products made domestically, and even on certain goods not produced in China. He accused Beijing of exerting "extraordinary pressure" on other countries to align with its policies, calling it "a moral disgrace in international trade and diplomacy."
Before the announcement, Bitcoin had been trading above $122,000 and reached a new all-time high above the $126,000 mark for the first time earlier this week.
Global equity markets also retreated following the news, with major Wall Street indices sliding more than 3%, led by tech-reliant stocks amid concerns over potential disruptions in rare earth supplies.
European markets mirrored the sell-off, with all major stock exchanges ending the week down by more than 1%.
Earlier in Asia, following China’s new measures on rare earth exports, stocks in Japan, China, and Hong Kong also retreated from record highs.
1 min read
4 min read
