Trump Tariff Shock Triggers $600M Long Liquidation as BTC Plunges to 3-Week Low
Bitcoin just got a brutal reminder that politics moves markets faster than any whitepaper. The OG crypto nosedived to its lowest level in 21 days after former President Trump's latest tariff threats sent shockwaves through risk assets.
Leverage gets wrecked—again
Nearly two-thirds of a billion dollars in bullish bets got vaporized in the cascade. The liquidation bloodbath hit as BTC sliced through key support levels like a hot knife through institutional "hedging" strategies.
Macro meets crypto—with predictable results
When traditional markets sneeze, digital assets catch pneumonia. The tariff news sparked a classic flight to safety—straight out of the 2022 playbook. Gold pumped while crypto dumped. Some things never change.
Silver lining for degens?
Volatility is back on the menu. For traders who survived the margin call massacre, the charts are printing fresh opportunities. Just don't tell the SEC you're "hedging" with 100x leverage this time.
Closing thought: Nothing accelerates crypto's correlation with traditional markets quite like politicians realizing they can still move markets. How decentralized.
Trump’s Latest Tariff Adjustments
August 1 was a pivotal date for Trump’s global policy, as he had outlined it as a deadline for tariff implementation against numerous nations. On Thursday, the POTUS signed an executive order to change the stipulations.
For one, he imposed a 10% tariff on goods imported from every country, aside from the 92 nations listed in an annex that are subject to higher rates. Trump also raised tariffs on Canadian goods from 25% to 35%.
“I have determined that it is necessary and appropriate to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14257 by imposing additional ad valorem duties on goods of certain trading partners,” the POTUS said.
Many economic experts rushed to offer their insights on what the actual impact WOULD be on the financial markets, including crypto. The Kobeissi Letter, for instance, noted that the trade war has “lost all credibility.”
The market says the trade war has lost all credibility:
President TRUMP just seemingly just randomly decided to raise tariffs on Canada from 25% to 35%.
On top of this, he imposed “reciprocal tariffs” on Vietnam, Switzerland, South Africa, Taiwan, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia,…
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) August 1, 2025
But Crypto Corrects
Recall that the entire crypto market plunged hard in April following Trump’s original tariff call. At the time, BTC went from a six-digit territory to a five-month low of under $75,000 within days as the market wiped out nearly half a trillion dollars.
The landscape, for now at least, is not as painful, but BTC and the altcoins are still in the red after Trump’s executive order. Bitcoin’s price had recovered to almost $119,000 yesterday after the Fed’s decision to maintain the interest rates, but dumped by more than four grand to a multi-week low of $114,400.
Although it has recovered some ground since then, it’s still more than 3% down on the day. The altcoins have it even worse, with ETH and XRP dropping by 6%, while SPX, ENA, CRV, INJ, PENGU, JUP, BONK, SEI, and several others have nosedived by double digits.
The total crypto market cap has seen over $150 billion gone since yesterday’s peak and is down to $3.820 trillion on CG.
This substantial correction has wrecked more than 160,000 over-leveraged traders. The total value of liquidated positions is up to $650 million, with longs responsible for more than $600 million out of the total.
