$7B Wiped Out as Bitcoin Plunges During Trump’s Renewed China Trade War Escalation

Bitcoin Sinks Below $110K as $7B in Crypto Liquidations Follow Trump’s China Tariff Threat

Crypto markets suffered a violent downturn on Friday as renewed U.S.-China trade tensions triggered a rapid sell-off across major digital assets, leading to more than $7 billion in liquidations, data from CoinGlass shows.

Bitcoin (BTC) plunged 12% over 24 hours, sliding from around $117,000 to below $110,000, its steepest one-day decline in months. The sell-off accelerated after President Donald Trump announced plans to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods, beginning November 1, in response to Beijing’s export controls on rare earth metals.

Ether (ETH) led the broader market decline, crashing 16% to under $3,700, while Solana (SOL), XRP, and Dogecoin (DOGE) fell between 20% and 30%. Other altcoins such as Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), and Aave (AAVE) were hit even harder, tumbling up to 40% amid forced liquidations and liquidity dislocations.

The sharp move intensified late Friday after Trump posted on Truth Social that the tariff increase would coincide with new export restrictions on “any and all critical software.” Within minutes, Bitcoin dropped another $3,000, triggering widespread stop-loss cascades.

“This was a Covid-level nuke,” trader Bob Loukas said on X, describing the sell-off as “the mother of shakeouts.”

“Brutal day,” added Ram Ahluwalia, founder of Lumida Wealth, who attributed the move to Trump’s comments and stretched technical conditions.

Prominent trader Pentoshi called the event a “top three all-time flush,” noting that altcoins fell with intensity reminiscent of the 2020 pandemic crash.

Meanwhile, Zaheer Ebtikar, CIO of Split Capital, said the “altcoin complex got absolutely eviscerated,” describing the wipeout as a “full leverage reset” not seen in more than a year.

Friday’s collapse underscored how quickly sentiment can shift in crypto markets, where geopolitical headlines and macro uncertainty continue to drive extreme volatility.

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