Bitcoin plunges as Trump’s tariffs drive down global stock markets

April 6, 2025

The price of Bitcoin dropped by around 7 per cent on Sunday amid the ongoing global financial market volatility caused by US president Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.

The world’s leading cryptocurrency plunged to around $77,500 over 24 hours, after trading for over $80,000 most of this year, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Rival cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Solana suffered even bigger drops, sinking by around 12 per cent in the past 24 hours of trading.

The overall crypto market also dropped by around 7 percent in the same period.

Bitcoin has dropped in value by about 28 per cent since hitting a record high of around $110,000 in January this year.

Cryptocurrency prices over last 24 hours
Cryptocurrency prices over last 24 hours (CoinMarketCap)

The crypto market initially surged, adding over half a trillion dollars in value, after Mr Trump unveiled a new strategic reserve last month.

But it started falling last week as the US president indicated that he remained committed to his restrictive tariffs plan, insisting he would follow through with his policies.

The fall in crypto prices triggered a wave of liquidations, with Bitcoin seeing $250 million in long liquidations in the last day, according to CoinGlass.

Investors seemed to be anticipating further global market fluctuations after Mr Trump’s tariffs raised recession fears in the US in particular.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down by over 4 per cent late on Sunday while S&P 500 futures dropped by nearly 5 per cent and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 5.3 per cent.

Bitcoin price volatility amid Trump’s tariffs

Analysts at JPMorgan raised the risk of recession to 60 per cent after the president announced at least 10 percent blanket tariffs on almost all countries last week and China announced a retaliatory 34 per cent tariff on American goods.

“We have massive financial deficits with China and the EU and many others. The only way this problem can be cured is with tariffs, which are now bringing tens of billions of dollars into the US,” Mr Trump declared on his social media platform Truth Social. “They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold.”

The fall in global stock markets was estimated to have wiped out about $7 trillion in value since the tariffs were declared on 2 April.

Crypto analysts said the Bitcoin price was expected to mirror global stock markets amid the ongoing economic uncertainty, overshadowing any gains it might see from the Trump administration’s regulatory leniency.