Major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, experienced a price drop shortly after President Donald Trump released new tariffs against US trading partners. The largest digital asset recorded a 4% decline to $82,000 on Thursday morning in Singapore before undergoing some recovery. The price of Ether and XRP decreased while Solana lost more than 9% value during the same period.
The new trade policies impose at least a 10% tariff on all US imports and establish additional taxes for 60 countries having substantial trade deficits. Countries like China must deal with a 34% tariff, and European Union and Japanese importers will be subject to 20% and 24% tariffs, respectively. After the first hour, cryptocurrencies showed stability, but later, Asian traders caused market losses when they processed the news.
Economic instability causes the cryptocurrency market value to decrease. Financial experts observe that digital assets demonstrate weakness under rising volatility in the financial sector. According to John Wu, who serves as president at Ava Labs cryptocurrencies as risk-on assets experience price declines because of uncertain economic policies.
The entire financial market structure reacted to the news about the new tariffs. During after-hours trading, the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) tracked the US stock market through a 2.5% decrease, eliminating its opening gains. Trade barriers represent a concern about their potential adverse effects on worldwide economic development and market-based investment confidence.
During this period, gold maintained its status as a haven asset while hitting its record at $3,160 per ounce. The White House administration declared gold one of several commodities exempt from tariffs. Traditional investor behaviour demonstrates that people buy gold during financial crises because of its price rise, while digital assets demonstrate increased market volatility.
For many years, Bitcoin investors have sought to determine whether it functions as a store of value similar to traditional gold assets. New market trends show that Bitcoin exists as an asset that is exposed to changes in macroeconomic conditions. The crypto analyst Rachael Lucas of BTC Markets stressed that Bitcoin needs worldwide policy changes and positive market opinions for its future major price movements. According to her, Bitcoin requires the price to maintain its current $80,000 level and remain steady.