Over $19 billion was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market on Friday — the biggest single-day wipeout on record — after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on “any and all critical software” imports from China. The shock move sent digital assets into a tailspin, triggering massive sell-offs and liquidations across major tokens.
Over the past 24 hours, more than 1.6 million traders liquidated, according to Coinglass data. More than $7 billion of those positions were sold in less than one hour of trading on Friday.
In its post on X, Coinglass said the total might be much higher given that exchanges don’t necessarily report such orders in real time. Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest crypto exchange, only reports one liquidation order per second, according to the post.
“The focus now turns to counterparty exposure and whether this triggers broader market contagion,” said Brian Strugats, head trader at Multicoin Capital. He added that some estimates place total liquidations above $30 billion.
The move came in response to China’s decision to impose export restrictions on rare earth minerals — key inputs for global manufacturing and technology production — a step that Washington has described as “extraordinarily aggressive.”
In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin was down 7.6% at $112,394.31, while Ethereum plunged over 13% to $3,793, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The world’s largest cryptocurrency witnessed heavy liquidations worth $9.5 billion after failing to hold support near the $120,000 level.
Other major digital assets also joined the sell-off. Tether edged down 0.1% to $1, with market cap dipping to $178.97 billion. Binance Coin declined 6.6% to $1,094.09, while XRP suffered one of the steepest drops, plunging 22.85% to $2.33 and eroding its market value by 16.31% to $140.19 billion.
The sharp correction followed Trump’s fiery post on Truth Social, where he accused Beijing of taking an “extraordinarily aggressive position on trade” by announcing export controls on a wide range of goods.
“It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on trade... imposing large-scale export controls on virtually every product they make,” Trump wrote. “Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position... the United States will impose a tariff of 100% on China, over and above any tariff that they are currently paying.”
He added that Washington would also implement “export controls on any critical software,” potentially disrupting global technology supply chains.
Also read: Market to find clear direction by 2025-end as earnings rebound: Motilal Oswal’s Siddhartha Khemka
The announcement marks the latest flashpoint in the U.S.-China trade standoff.
Commenting on the development, Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex, said that the current market is an opportunity for investors to build long-term positions.
"The crypto market is reacting strongly to Trump’s announcement of a 100% tariff on China, with a total market cap standing at $3.74 trillion. Bitcoin briefly tested $102,000 levels before recovering to the $113,000 range. Historically, October corrections (as seen between 2017 and 202) have often been followed by relief rallies of up to 21%. Despite the short-term selling pressure, overall sentiment remains bullish. With gold trading in an overbought territory, potential capital rotation is expected, driving renewed momentum in crypto. Additionally, the market is anticipating approval of dozens of spot altcoin ETFs in the US, opening doors for fresh capital to enter the markets," Patel said.
He added, "For investors, this phase creates an attractive entry opportunity. These declines could be used to gradually build long-term positions, especially in fundamentally strong assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, before the next leg of the bull cycle begins."
( Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Over the past 24 hours, more than 1.6 million traders liquidated, according to Coinglass data. More than $7 billion of those positions were sold in less than one hour of trading on Friday.
In its post on X, Coinglass said the total might be much higher given that exchanges don’t necessarily report such orders in real time. Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest crypto exchange, only reports one liquidation order per second, according to the post.
“The focus now turns to counterparty exposure and whether this triggers broader market contagion,” said Brian Strugats, head trader at Multicoin Capital. He added that some estimates place total liquidations above $30 billion.
The move came in response to China’s decision to impose export restrictions on rare earth minerals — key inputs for global manufacturing and technology production — a step that Washington has described as “extraordinarily aggressive.”
In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin was down 7.6% at $112,394.31, while Ethereum plunged over 13% to $3,793, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The world’s largest cryptocurrency witnessed heavy liquidations worth $9.5 billion after failing to hold support near the $120,000 level.
Other major digital assets also joined the sell-off. Tether edged down 0.1% to $1, with market cap dipping to $178.97 billion. Binance Coin declined 6.6% to $1,094.09, while XRP suffered one of the steepest drops, plunging 22.85% to $2.33 and eroding its market value by 16.31% to $140.19 billion.
The sharp correction followed Trump’s fiery post on Truth Social, where he accused Beijing of taking an “extraordinarily aggressive position on trade” by announcing export controls on a wide range of goods.
“It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on trade... imposing large-scale export controls on virtually every product they make,” Trump wrote. “Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position... the United States will impose a tariff of 100% on China, over and above any tariff that they are currently paying.”
He added that Washington would also implement “export controls on any critical software,” potentially disrupting global technology supply chains.
Also read: Market to find clear direction by 2025-end as earnings rebound: Motilal Oswal’s Siddhartha Khemka
The announcement marks the latest flashpoint in the U.S.-China trade standoff.
Commenting on the development, Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex, said that the current market is an opportunity for investors to build long-term positions.
"The crypto market is reacting strongly to Trump’s announcement of a 100% tariff on China, with a total market cap standing at $3.74 trillion. Bitcoin briefly tested $102,000 levels before recovering to the $113,000 range. Historically, October corrections (as seen between 2017 and 202) have often been followed by relief rallies of up to 21%. Despite the short-term selling pressure, overall sentiment remains bullish. With gold trading in an overbought territory, potential capital rotation is expected, driving renewed momentum in crypto. Additionally, the market is anticipating approval of dozens of spot altcoin ETFs in the US, opening doors for fresh capital to enter the markets," Patel said.
He added, "For investors, this phase creates an attractive entry opportunity. These declines could be used to gradually build long-term positions, especially in fundamentally strong assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, before the next leg of the bull cycle begins."
( Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
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