Bitcoin falls below $80,000, macroeconomic headwinds wake up the crypto industry to Trump's aura
Cryptocurrency prices continued their decline, and the prospect of an escalating tariff war and further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve more than offset the positive stimulus from Trump's pro-cryptocurrency announcement last week. Risk assets such as cryptocurrencies are under pressure on fears that tariffs and government layoffs will weigh on economic growth momentum in the United States. U.S. stocks fell and U.S. Treasuries rallied as investors sought a safe haven. While Trump's cryptocurrency strategic reserve announcement initially fueled optimism, the rally quickly unraveled as a worsening macro environment sparked a major sell-off, B2C2 director Nikolay Karpenko wrote. Bitcoin fell 4.5% to $79,334 on Monday, its lowest level since Feb. 28, and has since narrowed its losses. Solana, Cardano and XRP fell, three tokens that Trump had mentioned as cryptocurrency reserves, but the final executive order did not mention. Jeff Mei, chief operating officer of cryptocurrency exchange BTSE, said that "Bitcoin is likely to fall to the $70,000 to $80,000 range in the next few weeks. Only when the tariff war is over and the Federal Reserve resumes rate cuts will major cryptocurrencies return to their previous highs."