Bitcoin and altcoins crash after Trump’s tariff announcements spook investors

After President Donald Trump targeted China, Mexico, and Canada with long-threatened import taxes, the crypto market fell on Feb. 1 in a risk-off action. Bitcoin’s price fell by 5%, which has rippled its way into altcoins. Effective Feb. 1, the U.S. will impose tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% on Chinese goods, adding further complexity to the current trade wars. As a result, over the past 24 hours ending on Feb. 3, Bitcoin ( BTC ) has experienced a notable decline amid a market-wide sell-off. The cryptocurrency fell by over 5%, reaching a low of approximately $91,200 before rebounding to around $94,000 as of this writing. Despite this recovery, BTC remains roughly 13% below its all-time high of $109,000, and trading volume has surged by more than 200%, suggesting considerable selling pressure or market panic. Additionally, the overall global crypto market cap has dropped nearly 12% during the same period, settling at about $3.15 trillion. It’s worth noting that following President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Bitcoin and other altcoins saw a significant price increase. However, since that peak, recent developments—including new tariff policies—have contributed to a drastic decline in market sentiment and asset values. Given Bitcoin’s recent price crash, it has had a cascading effect on altcoins. In the last 24 hours, Ethereum ( ETH ) has fallen by nearly 20%, Ripple ( XRP ) by 22%, Solana ( SOL ) by 8%, and Binance Coin ( BNB ) by over 15%. You might also like: Trump family gave us a ‘masterclass’ in meme marketing’: pro Bitcoin Long Term Holder SOPR: A correlation between declining SOPR and Bitcoin’s price dip YTD, reflecting market volatility and long-term holder behavior. Source: CryptoQuant by crypto.news You might also like: Big money is moving: Agent A.I., AI16Z, and TRUMP gain attention Rising trading volume alongside price dips often signals strong selling pressure or market panic, as more traders offload their assets. This pattern suggests that long-term investors are now selling their coins at lower profits than their purchase price—or even at a loss year-to-date—as illustrated by the Bitcoin: Long Term Holder SOPR chart. Such behavior often indicates capitulation among long-term holders, a phenomenon common during bearish market trends and corrections. Experts, including BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, have even warned that a “financial crisis” may be on the horizon. 60% of American plebes don’t have $1k of emergency funds. The Fed is “worried” about inflation. So Trump decides to hike energy prices via tariffs? He ain’t a fool, maybe he is trying to trigger a mini financial crisis? It’s def in the maybe column. pic.twitter.com/VEiI9qZZqC — Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) February 2, 2025 Read more: Are Trump tariffs crashing crypto? Virtuals Protocol, Bittensor, Neo, Jasmycoin among top laggards