Crypto Sees Record $19 Billion Vanish as Trump Imposes 100% Tariff on Chinese Tech Imports

More than $19 billion was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market on Friday – the largest single-day wipeout ever – after US President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on imports of “all critical software” from China. The shock move sent digital assets into a tailspin, leading to massive sell-offs and liquidations of major tokens.

According to Coinglass data, more than 1.6 million traders have been liquidated in the past 24 hours. More than $7 billion of these positions were sold in less than an hour of trading on Friday.

In its post on Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, reports only one liquidation order per second, according to the post.“The focus now turns to counterparty exposure and whether this is causing broader market contagion,” said Brian Strugats, chief trader at Multicoin Capital. He added that some estimates put total liquidations at over $30 billion.The move came in response to China’s decision to impose export restrictions on rare earth minerals – key inputs for global manufacturing and technology production – a move Washington has described as “extremely aggressive.”

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin fell 7.6% to $112,394.31 over the past 24 hours, while Ethereum fell more than 13% to $3,793. The world’s largest cryptocurrency witnessed heavy liquidations worth $9.5 billion after it failed to hold support around the $120,000 level. Other major digital assets also joined the sell-off. Tether fell 0.1% to $1, while its market cap fell to $178.97 billion. Binance Coin fell 6.6% to $1,094.09, while XRP saw one of the sharpest declines: 22.85% to $2.33 and its market value fell 16.31% to $140.19 billion. wide range of goods.

“It has just been learned that China has taken an extremely aggressive stance on trade… imposing widespread export controls on virtually every product it makes,” Trump wrote. “Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position… the United States will impose a 100% tariff on China, on top of any tariff it currently pays.”

He added that Washington would also implement “export controls on all critical software,” which could disrupt global technology supply chains.

Also Read: Market Will Find Clear Direction By End-2025 As Earnings Recover: Motilal Oswal’s Siddhartha Khemka

The announcement marks the latest flashpoint in the trade dispute between the US and China.

Commenting on the development, Mudrex CEO Edul Patel said the current market is an opportunity for investors to build long-term positions.

“The crypto market is reacting strongly to Trump’s announcement of a 100% tariff on China, with a total market cap of $3.74 trillion. Bitcoin briefly tested the $102,000 level before recovering to the $113,000 range. Historically, October corrections (as seen between 2017 and 202) have often been followed by relief rallies up to 21%. Despite the selling pressure in the short term, the general sentiment is maintained. bullish In the overbought area, a potential capital rotation is expected, which will provide renewed momentum in crypto. Additionally, the market expects the approval of dozens of spot altcoin ETFs in the US, opening doors for new capital to enter the markets,” said Patel.

He added: “For investors, this phase creates an attractive entry opportunity. These declines can be used to gradually build long-term positions, especially in fundamentally strong assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, before the next phase of the bull cycle begins.”

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions expressed by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)