Crypto recently experienced a sharp downturn with massive liquidations totaling over $19 billion in 24 hours, triggered mainly by a new trade conflict episode where US President Donald Trump imposed 100% tariffs on Chinese tech imports starting November 1st, 2025. This sparked risk-off behavior in both crypto and the broader equity markets, causing Bitcoin to briefly plunge below $101,000 and Ethereum to drop under $3,300 before a slight recovery. This sell-off wiped approximately $200 billion off the total crypto market cap, with unprecedented liquidation scales surpassing past crises like the FTX collapse or the Covid crash.
Before this recent crash, crypto markets were bullish, with Bitcoin hitting all-time highs above $126,000, strong institutional interest, and altcoin markets nearing record caps. However, the sudden geopolitical and economic policy risks from the US-China trade war led to this swift market correction.
In summary, a major policy announcement by President Trump on tariffs against China triggered a massive sell-off and liquidation cascade across crypto markets, reversing the previous bullish momentum significantly.
