Bitcoin Tanks 12% as Trump’s China Tariff Move Triggers $7B Crypto Wipeout
Crypto markets faced one of their harshest sell-offs of the year on Friday as renewed U.S.-China trade tensions sparked a wave of panic selling and more than $7 billion in forced liquidations, according to CoinGlass.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell 12% over the past 24 hours, sliding from around $117,000 to below $110,000 after President Donald Trump announced plans to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports starting November 1. The sharp escalation in trade rhetoric, coupled with fresh export controls on “critical software,” fueled a sudden collapse in risk assets late in the session.
The announcement triggered a flash crash across the digital asset market. Ether (ETH) plunged 16% to under $3,700, while Solana (SOL), XRP, and Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped between 20% and 30%. Smaller-cap tokens such as Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), and Aave (AAVE) were hit even harder, losing up to 40% as liquidity dried up and leverage unwound.
“Covid-level nuke,” trader Bob Loukas wrote on X, describing the sell-off as “the mother of shakeouts.”
“Brutal day,” echoed Ram Ahluwalia, founder of Lumida Wealth, who said the crash stemmed from Trump’s tariff escalation compounding an “overbought” market setup.
Prominent trader Pentoshi called the drop a “top-three all-time flush,” likening the altcoin wipeout to the March 2020 Covid crash.
“The altcoin complex got absolutely eviscerated,” said Zaheer Ebtikar, CIO of Split Capital, noting that leverage had been fully reset after a year of aggressive speculation.
The sudden collapse underscored crypto’s continued sensitivity to macro shocks and geopolitical risk, with sentiment shifting sharply from euphoria to fear in a matter of hours.
