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

It’s deja vu all over again for bitcoin bulls as Monday’s rally to an all-time high triggered not FOMO, but instead fast retreat. That retreat sped up in a big way in late-morning U.S. action on Friday after trade war tensions between the U.S. and China ratcheted higher.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post minutes ago that he’s preparing a “massive increase” in tariffs on Chinese goods in response to China earlier imposing export controls on rare earth metals.

Following the post, bitcoin (BTC) plunged below $119,000 from $122,000. Ether (ETH), solana (SOL) and XRP each joined in the swift decline.

The drop in crypto prices also weighed on stocks tied to the sector. Circle (CRCL) fell over 6%. Robinhood (HOOD), which gets a large portion of its trading activity from crypto, declined 5%.

Coinbase (COIN) also shed 5%, while MicroStrategy (MSTR) slipped about 3%.

The news rippled across traditional markets, too. WTI crude oil dropped nearly 4% below $60, its weakest price since early May. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were 1.6% and 1.3% lower, respectively.

Gold? It rallied more than 1% to back over $4,000 per ounce as the yellow metal once again showed itself, not bitcoin, to be the risk-off asset of choice for investors.

At the current $118,800, bitcoin is lower by about 2% over the past 24 hours and about 6% since hitting a new record above $126,000 just four days ago.