Price
Bitcoin fell sharply on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump announced a massive new round of tariffs, shocking Wall Street and sending altcoins diving.
According to data from crypto data provider Coingecko, the leading cryptocurrency dropped 5.8% to $81,732. Solana, the sixth-largest digital asset by market capitalization, fell 12% to a 13-month low of $113.
Dogecoin, the original and most valuable meme coin in the market, decreased by 10% to $0.157. XRP, linked to Ripple, dropped 7.4% to $1.99.
As Trump decided to impose tariffs on 185 countries, investors raised concerns about retaliatory measures from U.S. rivals and allies while also weighing global economic growth forecasts and heightened inflation worries.
The S&P 500 index fell 4%, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropping 5.1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near correction territory, down 10% from its December highs.
On Wednesday, Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff on all goods imported into the U.S., with countries including China and the EU facing hefty levies of 34% and 20%, respectively. These hikes add to tariffs already in place, resulting in a total tariff rate of 54% on imports from China.
Beijing criticized Trump’s tariffs and vowed to retaliate, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EU is preparing countermeasures, “to protect our interests and businesses if negotiations fail.”
According to crypto analytics firm Block Scholes, Trump’s tariffs constitute the largest import taxes since the 1930s. As a result, futures traders sought “further protection against declining migration,” the firm stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In Trump’s remarks from the Rose Garden on Wednesday, Bitcoin peaked at $87,000, according to data from crypto provider CoinMarketCap.
Solana’s price reached a high of $293 the day before Trump’s inauguration, and it has recently fallen 61% from its all-time high less than three months ago.
Edited by James Rubin
