Crypto plummets 10%, liquidations reach 19 billion due to Trump’s Chinese tariffs

The crypto market fell more than 10% after US President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese exports from November 1, leading to $19 billion in liquidations.

Solana fell 16%, XRP 14%, Ethereum 12%, Bitcoin 9% and Dogecoin 22%, as traders rushed to unwind their leveraged positions.

CoinGlass data showed that most of the $19 billion in liquidations came from long positions as markets turned off risk. One trader estimated that it was “probably the largest liquidation eventin $ terms, in crypto history.”

Trump’s actions came in response to what he called an “extremely aggressive” stance by China after it unveiled sweeping export controls on rare earth elements crucial to products from cars to smartphones.

The announcement sent investors fleeing risky assets as the Crypto Fear & Greed Index collapsed from a “Greed” level of 64 to a “Fear” level of 27 in one day, as markets brace for an escalating showdown between the world’s two largest economies.

Crypto Fear & Greed Index (Source: Alternative.me)

“It has just been learned that China has taken an extremely aggressive stance on trade by sending an extremely hostile letter to the world stating that effective November 1, 2025, they will be imposing massive export controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

He added that the US will do so also impose export controls on “all critical software.” Trump initially indicated he would withdraw from a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, he later said that the meeting had not been canceled, but that he did not know if “we would get it.”

The S&P 500 stock index fell 2.7%, the Nasdaq 100 fell 3.5% and oil prices fell to their lowest level since May. Gold rose almost 1.5% as investors looked for safe-haven assets.

Fears of a renewed trade war are causing investors to take the risk

Data from CoinGlass shows that $16.81 billion in liquidations came from long positions, suggesting crypto prices would rise. The remaining $2.50 billion was wiped out from short positions.

Trades for crypto market leaders Bitcoin and Ethereum took the biggest hits, with $5.36 billion of longs wiped out from BTC longs and $3.85 billion wiped out from ETH longs.

As bad as Bitcoin looks, Ethereum looks even worse. While Bitcoin is only down about 10% from its record US dollar price, Ether is down 21%. It is now trading near $3,900. If support is broken around $3,350, a quick decline to $1,500 is a real risk. Get out now!

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) October 10, 2025

Meme coin sector hammered

The meme coin sector was among the hardest hit as its market capitalization fell by almost 20% to $57.08 billion. Of the top 10 biggest meme coins, Dogwifhat (WIF) fell 28%, Floki plummeted 22%, and Official Trump, Bonk, and Pepe all fell more than 21%.

Among the subcategories measured by CoinMarketCap, Chinese-themed meme coins fell 39%, while AI-themed memes fell almost 30%.

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