Crypto Markets Slide After Trump Accuses China of Breaking Tariff Truce
On Friday, the cryptocurrency market stumbled amid renewed fears over U.S.-China trade tensions.
Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 2.1% over the past 24 hours, trading just above $104,000 after briefly dipping to a session low of $103,900. The broader crypto market, measured by the CoinDesk 20 index — which tracks the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap excluding stablecoins, memecoins, and exchange tokens — saw a sharper decline, falling 4.2%.
Smart contract platforms took the hardest hit, with Solana (SOL) falling 6.3%, Sui (SUI) plunging 7.8%, and Avalanche (AVAX) dropping 7.3%.
Crypto stocks also suffered, led by bitcoin mining company Bitdeer (BTDR), which fell 8.3% after a strong rally that had lifted its stock 132% between April 16 and May 21. MicroStrategy (MSTR) slipped 2.7%, while Coinbase (COIN) declined 1.3%.
This sell-off extended beyond crypto, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices down 1% and 1.5% respectively. Gold also gave up 0.7%.
Renewed U.S.-China Tariff Tensions
The market downturn followed fresh tensions in the U.S.-China trade relationship. Earlier this month, the two countries had reached a tariff truce, but President Donald Trump reignited concerns by accusing China on Truth Social of “violating” that agreement.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added fuel to the fire during a Fox News interview, saying trade talks had “stalled” with Chinese officials.
In response, China urged the U.S. to “immediately correct its erroneous actions and stop discriminatory restrictions,” according to the BBC.
The easing of U.S.-China tensions had helped boost risk assets in May, propelling Bitcoin to new record highs. The recent escalation now threatens to reverse some of those gains as uncertainty weighs on markets.
