Bitcoin plunges amid Trump’s trade war fears — then stages a comeback

Bitcoin and the broader crypto market experienced a weekend of volatility, with BTC plunging near $91,000 before staging a sharp recovery on Monday.

George Tung, host of CryptosRus, attributed the market turmoil to fears of an escalating global trade war sparked by former President Donald Trump’s executive orders imposing new tariffs.

“It’s due to fears about a global war, well trade war, that started with President Trump this weekend,” Tung said. “He signed executive orders to place tariffs on any goods coming into America from Canada, Mexico, and China — 45% to be exact from Canada, Mexico, and 10% on China goods. And this caused a lot of fear, uncertainty, and doubt.”

The market reaction was immediate, with Bitcoin dropping nearly 10% and altcoins collapsing 20% to 30% in a matter of hours.

The sell-off was particularly brutal for altcoins, many of which saw their largest single-day losses since the crypto winter of 2022-2023.

“We haven’t seen altcoins fall 20-30% for a long time. I don’t think we have seen that since crypto winter since I would say 2022, 2023,” Tung noted.

Markets bounce back as trade tensions cool

Despite initial fears, the panic began to subside after Mexico and China signaled a willingness to negotiate with Trump.

“Once the markets opened today, Wall Street decided, hey, things aren’t as scary as it seems, and we are getting a little bit of data back. Mexico decided to respond to Trump, saying, ‘Hey, we will try to meet some of your demands.’ And China’s also coming to the table trying to talk to Trump,” Tung added.

Tung noted that Trump’s policies toward crypto could play a major role in Bitcoin’s long-term growth.

“If so, it’s going to help propel Bitcoin and crypto forward because we know that is one of the big agendas for Trump and this new administration — to make crypto great, to make Bitcoin great,” he said.

He also pointed to the US potentially considering Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, a move that could have significant implications for the crypto space.

“Let’s not forget all the things that are coming in terms of making Bitcoin a strategic reserve of the US and also making all these great changes so that crypto can flourish and all the innovations can happen,” Tung added.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $101,000, up 3.2% in the last 24 hours.