Nearly every cryptocurrency took a nosedive as markets hemorrhaged a staggering $140 billion in mere hours. Bitcoin plummeted to $77,393, dragging the total crypto market cap down to $2.57 trillion. The carnage didn’t stop there – altcoins followed their big brother down the drain, contributing to a brutal $500 million in liquidations. Talk about a rough day at the digital office.
The mayhem kicked off when new U.S. tariffs sparked fears of a full-blown trade war. Because apparently, crypto needed another reason to be volatile. The timing couldn’t have been worse, with weak economic indicators like the ISM Manufacturing Index already putting investors on edge. The massive sell-off created opportunities for market manipulation similar to the 2017 crash.
Market chaos erupted as new tariffs stoked trade war fears, hitting crypto when economic indicators already had investors spooked.
The stock market‘s simultaneous tumble didn’t help either, with the S&P 500 dropping 3.1% and Nasdaq falling 4.3%. Margin calls hit like dominoes as leveraged positions got absolutely demolished on centralized exchanges. The market mood swung from “extreme greed” to “extreme fear” faster than you can say “HODL.” Whale investors holding large amounts of cryptocurrency exacerbated the market downturn by offloading their positions.
Investors scrambled for the exits, dumping their crypto for safer havens. Low liquidity turned the selloff into a proper spiral – the kind that keeps traders up at night. Adding fuel to the fire, government Bitcoin sell-offs and Mt. Gox refunds created a perfect storm of selling pressure. This downturn eerily mirrors the 80% crash from peak that cryptocurrencies experienced in September 2018.
The broader financial market correlation proved particularly painful this time around. Manufacturing downturns, interest rate worries, and currency fluctuations all piled on. A separate 25% Bitcoin value contraction wiped out $320 billion, highlighting just how vulnerable the market remains.
It’s one of the steepest declines since 2023, and a stark reminder that in crypto, what goes up must sometimes come crashing down – hard.
