Crypto Markets Hit By $500 Million Liquidation After Trump’s Tariff Threat On China – Bitcoin, Ethereum Slide

A fresh escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions rattled crypto markets Friday, with liquidations approaching $500 million after President Donald Trump threatened “massive” tariffs in response to Beijing’s rare earth export curbs.

Roughly $490 million in leveraged crypto trades were wiped out in the past hour, CoinGlass data shows, compared with about $900 million over the last 24 hours. Most of the damage came from long positions, which resulted in $450 million in liquidations, compared to $40 million from shorts.

Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) led losses. Ethereum’s price dropped more than 5% and Solana’s price fell around 4%. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Ethereum continued to trend in ‘neutral’ territory while sentiment around Solana remained in the ‘bullish’ zone.

Bitcoin (BTC), meanwhile, shed 2%. BTC’s price fell to under $119,000 – down 5.5% from its all-time high of more than $126,000, seen earlier this month. Retail sentiment around the leading cryptocurrency trended in ‘bullish’ territory amid ‘high’ levels of chatter.

The crypto sell-off followed President Donald Trump’s warning of a “massive increase of tariffs” on Chinese imports to “financially counter” Beijing’s new export controls on rare earth materials.

“One of the policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration.”

Trump added there was “no way” China should be allowed to hold the world captive with its rare earth restrictions. Equity markets also tumbled after the post, which marked a sharp escalation in trade tensions. 

Read also: EightCo Stock Jumps After Launch Of AI Authentication Pilot For Enterprises

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