Bitcoin Slumps Under $65K, Ethereum Underperforms After Trump’s 15% Tariff Announcement

BTC’s price fell nearly 5% in the last 24 hours, dropping below $65,000 and wiping out its weekend gains.
A neon sign advertises a Bitcoin and Ethereum crypto currency exchange in Warsaw, Poland, on January 4, 2025.
A neon sign advertises a Bitcoin and Ethereum crypto currency exchange in Warsaw, Poland, on January 4, 2025.
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Prabhjote Gill·Stocktwits
Published Feb 22, 2026   |   11:11 PM EST
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  • The Crypto Fear and Greed Index declined to 5 for the second time this month, a level not seen since 2020.
  • The selloff followed President Donald Trump’s plan to impose 15% tariffs on all goods entering the U.S.
  • Liquidations reached $460 million, with $430 million coming from long positions.

Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH) led losses on Sunday night after Bitcoin’s (BTC) price fell under $65,000, wiping out all gains it had seen over the past weekend and the Crypto Fear and Greed Index dropped back down to 5 – its second time this month. 

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Fear & Greed Index reading drops to 5 for a second time in February. | Source: alternative.me

Market sentiment around cryptocurrency has been drifting in the ‘Extreme Fear’ territory all through February, consistently below the 20-mark, according to data on alternative.me. The last time it was this low was during the 2020 COVID crypto crash, also known as “Black Thursday,” when Bitcoin’s price dropped over 50% over a couple of hours.

The overall cryptocurrency market dropped 4.3% in the last 24 hours, trying to keep above $2.3 trillion. According to CoinGlass data, liquidations surged to $460 million over the past day, with $430 million coming from long positions being wiped out. 

Trump’s Tariff Announcement Rattles Markets

The risk-off sentiment follows President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would be implementing 15% tariffs on all goods coming into the U.S. after a Supreme Court ruling struck down his previous import taxes.

He initially said he would be putting a 10% tariff in place, but increased it to the “fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level” in a Truth Social post on Saturday.

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Source: @realDonaldTrump/TruthSocial

Ethereum Price Underperforms BTC

Bitcoin’s price fell nearly 5% in the last 24 hours to around an intra-day low of $64,300, according to Coinbase data. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency came down to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ over the past day. 

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BTC retail sentiment and message volume on February 22 as of 10:30 p.m. ET | Source: Stocktwits

Solana’s price plummeted over 8.5% in the 24 hours to around $77.60, followed by Ethereum’s price, which dropped over 5.5% to under $1,860. Retail sentiment around both the altcoins was treading in ‘extremely bearish’ territory on Stocktwits. 

Ripple’s XRP (XRP) Binance Coin (BNB) and Cardano (ADA) also underperformed Bitcoin, falling 5.6% in the last 24 hours. Dogecoin (DOGE) was down 4.3% to around $0.093.

Read also: Bitdeer Liquidates All Its Bitcoin Stash Days After Announcing $43.7M Stock Sale

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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