Crypto Liquidations Nearly at $1B as President Trump Hints at New Trade War With China

The wider crypto market followed major stock indexes with notable losses on Friday following renewed trade feud between China and the United States. The crypto market cap dropped around 2% on Friday to hover about $4 trillion at press time. 

Bitcoin (BTC) price slipped 3% to trade below $119k while Ethereum (ETH) price dropped over 6% to trade around $4.1k at press time. The Dow dropped around 500 points today to trade at about 45,908 while the NASDAQ slipped 2% to hover around 22,552 at press time.

Crypto Liquidations Almost Top $1B

Following the sudden market selloff on Friday, 203,684 traders were liquidated, with over 881 million rekt. According to market data from CoinGlass, the largest single liquidation order happened on Hyperliquid involving BTC-USDT valued at about $15.5 million.

Notably, more than $709 million involved long traders, thus fueling bearish sentiment via a long squeeze. Meanwhile, on-chain data analysis from Lookonchain shows that the Bitcoin OG, who got popular for selling BTC for ETH last month, has profited from yesterday’s BTC short, where the cumulative unrealized profit was over $35 million.

Why is the Crypto Market Down Today

Renewed Feud Between China and the U.S.

The main reason why the crypto market dumped heavily on Friday was due to the fresh trade feud between China and the United States. On Friday, President Trump threatened to hit China with massive tariffs as China imposed export controls on its rare earths including magnets.

Earlier this year, crypto assets experienced prolonged choppy markets after President Trump imposed additional tariffs through executive orders. 

Prolonged U.S. Government Shutdown Delays Crypto Legislation

The crypto market suffered bearish sentiment on Friday partially influenced by the ongoing gridlock between the Democrats and Republicans. Already, the U.S. SEC has missed its final deadline to decide on a spot crypto ETF amid the ongoing government shutdown.

Meanwhile, the ongoing impasse in Congress is expected to delay the CLARITY Act, with some reports hinting at hostility from bipartisan support.