As U.S. equities suffered their worst decline since 2020 following the rollout of President Donald Trump’s restrictive global tariffs, Bitcoin also plunged to the $78,000 level. This is expected to be the outcome of US president Donald Trump’s new reciprocal tariff role out. As a result of this, cryptocurrencies faced a sharp sell-off at Asia open- Bllomberg reported.
According to the CoinSwitch Markets Desk, Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency in the world, dropped by 7% to $77,077 when markets opened in Singapore on April 7. Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, also fell to $1,538 — its lowest level during the day since October 2023. This drop in Bitcoin comes after it traded above $80,000 for most of the year.
How It Impacted Traders
Bitcoin’s price drop caused many traders who were hoping it would go up to sell their assets to avoid bigger losses. In the last 24 hours, traders lost over $247 million on these kinds of bets (called long liquidations) in Bitcoin. Ethereum (Ether) also saw $217 million in similar losses during the same time, according to CoinGlass. Bitcoin usually behaves like a major tech stock and shows how the overall market feels. But last week, it acted differently from the rest of the market. While stocks dropped and even gold lost value, Bitcoin stayed strong between $82,000 and $83,000, and even went up by the end of the week.
Traders Rattled By Bitcoin Price Drop
A report by CNBC says that, rattled by fears of a global recession, investors began selling off their cryptocurrency holdings over the weekend, taking advantage of the fact that crypto markets operate 24/7. This reaction came after former President Donald Trump announced sweeping retaliatory tariffs, sparking panic among investors who feared further market damage. The new duties, which apply to all imports and especially target major trading partners, raised concerns about a potential global trade war. These growing fears shook confidence in riskier assets like crypto, leading to a wave of sell-offs and sharp declines in markets around the world.
Bitcoin All-Time High
If the Bitcoin’s all-time high price have to be analysed, it was on December 17, 2024. In that month bitcoin reached $108,135. At that time, there were just over 19.6 million bitcoins in circulation, bringing the market cap to around $2.14 trillion. Bitcoin’s price is based on supply and demand. If more people are looking to buy Bitcoin, the price will be higher. If the majority of people lose faith in Bitcoin and start selling it, the price will drop. The first time Bitcoin actually gained value was on October 12, 2009, when Martti Malmi, a Finnish developer who helped Satoshi work on Bitcoin, sold 5050 Bitcoins for $5.02. This gave 1 Bitcoin the value of $0.0009.
