Bitcoin’s Flash Crash Sees $7B Crypto Liquidation as Trump Ramps Up China Trade War

Friday has gone from bad to worse for crypto assets as U.S. President Trump said he would impose an additional 100% tariff on China, sending prices cascading lower in a flash crash.

Bitcoin (BTC), already trading weak at around $117,000 following Trump’s late morning comments about threatening China with tariffs, tumbled below $110,000, down 12% over the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) tanked 16% below $3,700, while other major altcoins XRP (XRP), solana (SOL) and dogecoin (DOGE) crashed 20%-30%. The native tokens of Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK) and Aave (AAVE) fell as much as 40%

Friday’s market meltdown lead to over $7 billion in liquidations from traders who bet on higher prices, according to CoinGlass.

The latest flare-up in trade tensions between U.S. and China occurred as Trump said he would increase tariffs in Chinese goods in response to China’s export controls on rare earth metals. Then, after traditional markets closed for the week, he announced in an Truth Social post late Friday afternoon that he would impose an additional 100% tariff starting on November 1.

“Also on November 1, we will impose export controls on any and all critical software,” he said.

Bitcoin fell $3,000 immediately at the time that post went live.

The violent price action was one for the ages, with some analysts comparing it to the market crash in March 2020 induced by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.

“Covid level nukes,” prominent trader Bob Loukas said about the crash in an X post. “Wow, nasty, nasty action. But also a great candidate for the mother of shakeouts,” he added.

“Brutal day,” said Ram Ahluwalia, founder of investment firm Lumida Wealth. “The Trump news combined with ‘overbought’ conditions led to a sharp decline.”

“I know there are a lot of emotions right now and this flush is in the top 3 all time,” well-followed trader Pentoshi posted, adding that altcoins dropped as violently as during the COVID crash. “There are a lot of people in incredible pain right now, myself included in that.”

“The altcoin complex got absolutely eviscerated,” said Zaheer Ebtikar, founder and is the CIO of crypto hedge fund Split Capital. “We’re at levels not seen in more than a year with regard to altcoins. Full leverage reset and market dislocation.”

Read more: Trump Tariff Threat on China Sends Bitcoin Tumbling Below $119K

UPDATE (Oct. 10, 2025, 21:55 UTC): Adds updated liquidation figure.

UPDATE (Oct. 10, 2025, 22:12 UTC): Adds comments from traders.