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Bitcoin dipped below the $79,000 mark as investors prepared for further turbulence in the financial markets following the largest drop in U.S. equities since 2020, prompted by President Donald Trump’s stringent global tariffs.
As per Coin Metrics, the value of bitcoin experienced a 4% decrease, settling at $78,835.07, after maintaining levels above $80,000 for a majority of this year, apart from a few brief dips amid ongoing volatility. This represents a decline of approximately 34% from its peak in January.
Typically, the leading cryptocurrency behaves similarly to major tech stocks and is often seen as a barometer of market sentiment. However, it defied the trend of broader market downturns last week, fluctuating between $82,000 and $83,000 and even climbing as equities sank and gold fell.
Other cryptocurrencies faced steeper declines overnight, with Ether and the token associated with Solana both plummeting around 10%.
Bitcoin’s decline has initiated a flurry of long liquidations, as traders who had bet on price increases were compelled to liquidate their positions to mitigate their losses. In the last 24 hours, more than $181 million in long liquidations were recorded for bitcoin, with Ether witnessing $188 million in similar liquidations within the same timeframe.
Bitcoin has mostly traded above $80,000 in 2025.
In a state of anxiety, investors rapidly sold off their cryptocurrency holdings over the weekend, anticipating more turmoil as fears of a global recession loomed following Trump’s retaliatory tariffs that led to a mass liquidation of risky assets.
The tariffs imposed on all imports, alongside additional duties on major trading partners, have raised concerns of a potential global trade conflict that could push the U.S. economy into a recession. The far-reaching consequences of these tariffs have sent financial markets into a tailspin worldwide.
In the two trading sessions following the tariff announcement, global stocks experienced a staggering $7.46 trillion reduction in market value, as indicated by the market cap of the S&P Global Broad Market Index, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices.
This loss includes approximately $5.87 trillion from the U.S. stock market and around $1.59 trillion from other significant global markets.
As of now, Bitcoin has dropped by 15% in 2025, and unless a crypto-specific catalyst emerges, it is anticipated to continue to mirror the movements of equities as global recession concerns overshadow any regulatory advantages the crypto sector was expected to experience this year.
