It’s deja vu all over again in crypto after a hopeful report on a tariff delay was refuted by the White House.
To review, President Trump on Thursday promised to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada beginning Saturday Feb. 1. Having rallied over $106,000 prior to that news, bitcoin (BTC) quickly reversed 2% lower to around the $104,000 level. U.S. stocks gave up a chunk of earlier gains, though still finished the session in the green.
Friday then brought a report from Reuters suggesting the tariffs would be delayed until March 1 as a process was put in place to allow countries to seek exemptions for certain exports.
The White House, though, called that report “false,” with Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt minutes ago telling reporters the tariffs — including a 10% levy on China — will go into effect tomorrow.
Similar to Thursday, bitcoin earlier had climbed above $106,000 and seemed set on a challenge of a new record above $109,000. The tariff news, however, once again sent prices careening lower, with bitcoin trading just below $103,000 at press time, down 2.3% over the past 24 hours.
The broader CoinDesk 20 Index was off 1.3% over the same time frame, outperforming mostly due to ether’s (ETH) 1.2% advance.
A check of traditional markets find U.S. stocks still modestly higher, but well off their best levels of the session.