Crypto market loses $19 billion following Trump’s announcement of 100% China tariffs

The cryptocurrency market suffered historic losses on Saturday, with over $19 billion wiped out, in what data tracker Coinglass described.

As “the largest liquidation event in crypto history.” The plunge followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on China along with new export controls on software, triggering fears of a renewed trade war.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Plunge

Major cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum were hit hardest as investors moved funds into stablecoins and safer assets. Bitcoin, which had earlier reached a record high of over $125,000, dropped more than 12% after the announcement, trading below $113,000 by Saturday morning in London. Ethereum faced similar losses, with record liquidations reported as traders rushed to exit positions.

According to Coinglass, over 1.6 million traders were liquidated within 24 hours, with more than $7 billion in positions sold in less than an hour on Friday alone. The tracker noted that actual losses could be higher, as some exchanges like Binance report only one liquidation per second.

Exchange Outages Exacerbate Turmoil

The chaos was worsened by technical issues on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, where users reported frozen accounts, failed stop-loss orders, and flash crashes that briefly sent altcoins such as Enjin (ENJ) and Cosmos (ATOM) to near-zero prices before recovering. Binance cited “heavy market activity” for the disruption, assuring users that “funds are SAFU,” but critics argued the outage intensified the sell-off. Similar problems were reported on Coinbase and Robinhood.

Expert Warnings

Brian Strugats, head trader at Multicoin Capital, highlighted concerns over “counterparty exposure” and the potential for broader market contagion, with some estimates putting total liquidations above $30 billion. Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, said the next key support for Bitcoin is $100,000, warning that a drop below this could end the current three-year bull cycle. Deribit data shows the highest concentration of Bitcoin put options at $110,000 and $100,000.

Broader Financial Impact

The US-China trade tensions also rattled stocks, oil, and commodities while increasing demand for safe-haven assets like gold and Treasuries. Ravi Doshi, co-head of markets at FalconX, reported “outsized demand for downside protection” amid widespread uncertainty.

David Jeong, CEO of Tread.fi, described the event as a “black swan”, noting that leveraged perpetual futures—which allow 24/7 trading—amplified losses for many traders and institutions. Vincent Liu, CIO at Kronos Research, added, “The rout was triggered by tariff fears but fueled by institutional over-leverage, highlighting crypto’s sensitivity to macroeconomic developments.”