Bitcoin stumbled out of the gate as global markets felt the ripple effects of mounting US trade tensions.
Amid fears of a 1987-style black Monday crash, crypto’s total market cap sank roughly 10% to $2.44 trillion before a short-lived bounce on tariff delay hopes. Rumors of ongoing talks with 50+ trading partners offered brief relief, but the selloff quickly returned.
Over the past 24 hours, more than $1.25 billion in long positions were wiped out, fueling a brutal $1.63 billion liquidation wave.
Most of the damage came during the 12-hour window, where Longs took a massive $559 million hit.
Market sentiment indicators were flashing red at press time, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index sliding 10 points into extreme fear territory.
The broader altcoin market mirrored Bitcoin’s downturn, with only a handful of the top 99 tokens returning to profitability by late Asian trading hours on Monday.
Will Bitcoin price crash?
Bitcoin failed to hold the crucial $80K support after the White House dismissed rumours of a 90-day delay in the new tariffs.
The brief rally that followed the initial reports quickly faded, and BTC slid below $78K as sentiment turned sharply bearish, confirming that crypto markets remain highly reactive to global macro signals.
QCP Capital, in a bulletin to its Telegram subscribers, said that markets are likely to stay nervous as global powers rush to position themselves in ongoing trade talks.
The firm noted that uncertainty around tariff policy is driving investors to de-risk, with crypto taking a hit alongside traditional markets.
They also pointed to recent remarks from the US president, who, despite expressing a desire to avoid market losses, indicated that “sometimes you have to take medicine.”
According to QCP, this suggests the administration may be prepared to weather short-term economic pain to push through its trade agenda, raising the stakes for global markets and potentially dragging crypto lower if no progress is made in the coming days.
Despite the volatility, Bitcoin has found some footing in the mid-$70,000 range, brushing close to its March 2024 all-time highs before stabilizing.
According to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, the recent lows weren’t random, and they lined up neatly with key cost-basis levels where large portions of BTC supply had previously changed hands.
Glassnode pointed out that around 50,000 BTC were last moved near $74.2K, forming the first major supply cluster below $80K.
This zone is mostly held by investors who had been steadily raising their cost basis until 10 March and have remained inactive since, which indicates they’re likely long-term holders.
Below that, on-chain data shows additional support between the recent lows and the $70,000 mark, with approximately 175,000 BTC concentrated in this zone. The largest cost basis clusters were identified at $71,600, holding around 41,000 BTC, and $69,900, where roughly 68,000 BTC are held.
At press time, Bitcoin was consolidating just above these levels, suggesting that long-term holders may be stepping in to absorb selling pressure.
According to crypto analyst Ted, for a relief rally to transpire, Bitcoin needs to reclaim its weekly 50-day exponential moving average (EMA), a level that has historically marked the dividing line between bullish and bearish momentum.
Source: Ted on X
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $78,468, just above the 50-EMA.
The reclaim, if confirmed, could serve as a short-term bullish signal, potentially triggering a relief rally as confidence begins to creep back into the market.
However, Ted warned that if BTC fails to hold this level, the door remains open for a drop toward $69,000–$70,000.
Altcoins caught in the fallout
In the last 24 hours, the altcoin market cap has dropped 4%, sitting at around $1.03 billion at the time of writing.
This sharp pullback coincided with a weak reading of 16 on the Altcoin Season Index, meaning only 16 of the top 100 altcoins have outperformed Bitcoin over the past three months.
Ethereum (ETH), the biggest altcoin by market cap, took a serious hit, falling 11.36% in a single day.
Other heavy hitters like XRP, Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Cardano (ADA) weren’t spared either, logging losses between 7% and 10%.
Even in the sea of red, a few outliers stood their ground. SPX6900 (SPX) was the only token in the top 99 to notch double-digit gains, defying the broader market meltdown. Meanwhile, Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) and Four (FORM) managed to post modest gains. See below:
Source: CoinMarketCap
Weighing in on the situation, Ming Wu, CEO of Rabbit, X told Invezz that the steep drop isn’t just a crypto story; it’s part of a broader macro storm.
“With Trump reintroducing global tariffs, markets were already jittery,” he said. “Stock markets crashed across several trading sessions, and because crypto trades 24/7, altcoins were quickly caught in the fallout.”
He added that these tokens are among the most liquid speculative assets, which makes them extra vulnerable in times of panic.
Komodo CTO Kadan Stadelmann also shared his thoughts, saying that altcoins are particularly unproven during periods of quantitative tightening, unlike the bull runs we’ve seen during looser monetary policy.
“Altcoins thrived in the easy money era,” he said. “But in a risk-off environment, with higher rates and tighter liquidity, they’re struggling to show real resilience.”
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