The crypto market’s relief rally fizzled out on Tuesday as stocks gave up big early gains and turned lower alongside the Trump administration’s plan to imminently enforce punitive tariffs against China.
After staging a brief rally to the $80,000 mark, bitcoin (BTC) had slumped back to $76,500 before stabilizing below $78,000. Recently, the top cryptocurrency was down 1.2% in the last 24 hours, while ether (ETH) lost nearly 4% over the same period and fell below $1,500. The CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, except for stablecoins, memecoins and exchange coins — was down 2.2%.
Crypto equities have also taken a hit, with bitcoin miner Bitdeer (BTDR) leading the way with a 8.7% loss. Strategy (MSTR) is down 5.3% and Coinbase (COIN) 2.3%. One outlier is DeFi Technologies (DEFTF), which is up 10.27%, potentially due to an expectation from some of its shareholders that the Toronto-based company could soon follow in Galaxy Digital’s (GLXY) footsteps and get listed on the U.S. Nasdaq.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are down 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively — modest losses, but sharply reversed from roughly 4% advances earlier in the session.
The price action happened as the White House announced during the day that 104% additional tariffs on Chinese goods would take effect at midnight on Tuesday. The tariff news put additional pressure on the Chinese currency, with the offshore yuan (CNH) rapidly depreciating against the U.S. dollar during the day to 7.4, its weakest levels in years.
Some have suggested that Beijing could respond to the tariffs by allowing a sizable weakening in the yuan, thus making China’s exports more competitive than otherwise. Bitcoin bulls have seized on that idea, noting a devaluation in the yuan would surely lead to capital flight from China, with at least some of that money potentially looking to hide out in bitcoin.
“If not the Fed then the PBOC will give us the yahtzee ingredients,” wrote Arthur Hayes. “It worked in 2013 , 2015, and can work in 2025,” he continued. “Ignore China at your own peril.”
Read more: Bitcoin Analysts Optimistic as China Surprisingly Fixes Yuan Beyond 7.2 Level
“We are currently in a phase of heightened uncertainty, with persistent trade disputes, geopolitical friction, active conflicts and growing fears of a global slowdown,” Kirill Kretov of cryptocurrency trading automation platform CoinPanel told CoinDesk in a Telegram note.
The choppy market conditions will likely remain, Kretov noted, with shallow liquidity on crypto and traditional markets exacerbating volatility. “Until more participants adjust to and capitalize on this environment, we’re unlikely to see a strong directional trend,” he added.