Bitcoin and all other major cryptocurrencies lost between 10% and 40% of their value in just hours after US President Donald Trump threatened to reimpose 100% tariffs on Chinese imports into the United States. Cryptoassets followed the trajectory of the American financial markets, which lost between 2% and 3%.
Trump threatened the new tariffs following a series of trade restrictions that China has implemented against several companies, in particular Western and American, in the sector of the transport of goods by sea and rare earths.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have suffered from this news because they often behave similarly to speculative markets.
The value of Bitcoin collapses
On the American afternoon of Friday 10 October, the value of all the main cryptocurrencies dropped rapidly in the space of a few hours. Bitcoin, the most traded cryptoasset in the world and the one with the largest market capitalization, went from being worth 117,000 dollars per token to 108,000, before rising to 113,000 before the close.
The other major cryptocurrencies have also suffered serious declines. In the hours in which Bitcoin lost 8% of its value, these assets underwent even worse fluctuations:
- Ethereum, $3,631, -9.3%;
- Solana, 177.97 dollars, -14.0%;
- Binance Coin, $1,057.76, -15.2%.
As often happens, the value of cryptocurrencies followed a similar trend to that of the main American stock market indices. The S&P 500, which includes the 500 most valuable companies on the US stock market, closed down 2.71%. The Nasdaq, Wall Street’s main index, lost 3.56%.
Trump against China: new tariffs
The reason for this decline comes from US President Donald Trump’s new threat of new tariffs on China. The Tycoon spoke of 100% customs tariffs, similar to those that the two countries had imposed on each other at the beginning of his mandate, during one of the most critical phases of the trade war between Beijing and Washington.
Since then, China and the US have attempted to collaborate, removing a large part of the tariffs and starting negotiations for a new trade agreement. Recently, however, China has imposed some trade restrictions that have damaged relations with the White House.
The two most important are:
- a tax on US cargo boats that dock in Chinese ports, a measure opposite to that imposed by Washington on Chinese ships;
- a restriction on exports of rare earths.
Trump stated:
Effective November 1, 2025 (or earlier, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a 100% tariff on China, in addition to any tariff currently applied. Also on November 1, we will impose export controls on any essential software.
Why Bitcoin has lost value
Beyond the trajectory of the financial markets, which cryptocurrencies more or less always end up imitating, the reason why Bitcoin and other tokens reacted so badly to the announcement of new tariffs on China has to do with the upcoming interest rate cuts.
Being similar to speculative markets, cryptoassets tend to do best when there is a lot of money in circulation and suffer during periods of restriction.
The new records in the value of Bitcoin were linked to the recent decisions of the Federal Reserve, the American central bank, which cut interest rates for the first time in years.
100% tariffs on China by the US would risk increasing inflation in the country again, forcing the Fed to stop cutting, if not increase rates again.
