The global cryptocurrency market lost more than $150 billion in just 24 hours, marking the largest sell-off since the start of the year. The escalating trade conflict between Washington and Beijing has triggered a domino effect — from crypto exchanges to stock markets across Asia and Europe, reports Minfin.
Mass Sell-Offs and Liquidations
Bitcoin dropped by 4%, falling to around $111,200, while Ether slid 7.8% to $3,950. Smaller tokens suffered even deeper losses, showing double-digit declines.
Over the past 24 hours, investors have withdrawn more than $750 million from U.S.-based Bitcoin and Ether ETFs.
The main trigger came after Donald Trump announced new tariffs against China. The market’s sharp reaction led to more than $19 billion in forced liquidations — the largest in ten months.
Geopolitical Pressure Hits Global Markets
Following Beijing’s retaliatory restrictions on U.S. subsidiaries of South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean Co., both Asian and European stock markets slid deep into the red.
Global indices tumbled as investors fled to safer assets — primarily the U.S. dollar and Treasury bonds.
Analysts: “The Market Is Entering a Caution Phase”
According to Glassnode, the crypto market is entering a phase of consolidation, characterized by minimal risk-taking and selective trading activity.
Timothy Misir of BRN Platform warns that a further drop in Bitcoin below $110,000 could trigger a test of the $104,000–$108,000 liquidity zone — a new critical support level.
Publicly traded companies with major Bitcoin holdings also took a heavy hit. Shares of Japan’s Metaplanet Inc. fell 12%, pushing the company’s market value below the worth of its own BTC reserves.
How Liquidations Crashed the Market
The mechanism is simple — but ruthless:
- Traders open leveraged positions using borrowed funds to increase potential profits.
- When the market moves against them, exchanges automatically liquidate positions to recover their loans.
- Thousands of simultaneous liquidations create a chain reaction, accelerating the sell-off and deepening losses.
This “domino effect” caused the market to shed $150 billion in a single day.
Once again, the crypto market has proven its extreme sensitivity to geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic shocks.
The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China could become a stress test for the maturity and resilience of the entire digital financial ecosystem.
Info: minfin.