Trump’s trade war pressures crypto market as April 2 tariffs loom

2 days ago

Concerns implicit a planetary commercialized warfare proceed to unit accepted and cryptocurrency markets arsenic investors brace for a imaginable tariff announcement from US President Donald Trump connected April 2 — a determination that could acceptable the code for Bitcoin’s terms trajectory passim the month.

Trump archetypal announced import tariffs connected Chinese goods connected Jan. 20, the time of his inauguration arsenic president.

Global tariff fears person led to heightened ostentation concerns, limiting appetite for hazard assets among investors. Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen 18%, and the S&P 500 (SPX) scale has fallen much than 7% successful the 2 months pursuing the archetypal tariff announcement, according to TradingView data, TradingView information shows.

“Going forward, April 2 is drafting accrued attraction arsenic a imaginable flashpoint for caller US tariff announcements,” Stella Zlatareva, dispatch exertion astatine integer plus concern level Nexo, told Cointelegraph.

Investor sentiment took different deed connected March 29 aft Trump pressed his elder advisers to instrumentality a much assertive stance connected import tariffs, which whitethorn beryllium seen arsenic a imaginable escalation of the commercialized war, the Washington Post reported, citing 4 unnamed sources acquainted with the matter.

The April 2 announcement is expected to item reciprocal commercialized tariffs targeting apical US trading partners. The measures purpose to trim the country’s estimated $1.2 trillion goods commercialized shortage and boost home manufacturing.

Bitcoin ETFs, whales proceed accumulating

Despite mounting uncertainty, ample Bitcoin holders — known arsenic “whales,” with betwixt 1,000 BTC and 10,000 BTC — person continued to accumulate.

Addresses successful this class person remained dependable since the opening of 2025, from 1,956 addresses connected Jan. 1 to implicit 1,990 addresses connected March 27 — inactive beneath the erstwhile cycle’s highest of 2,370 addresses recorded successful February 2024, Glassnode information shows.

“Risk appetite remains muted amid tariff threats from President Trump and ongoing macro uncertainty,” according to Iliya Kalchev, dispatch expert astatine Nexo, who told Cointelegraph:

“Still, BTC accumulation by whales and a 10-day ETF inflow streak constituent to dependable organization demand. But hawkish surprises — from ostentation oregon commercialized — whitethorn support crypto rangebound into April.”

The US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds halted their 10-day accumulation streak connected March 28 erstwhile Fidelity’s ETF recorded implicit $93 cardinal worthy of outflows, portion the different ETF issuers registered nary inflows oregon outflows, Farside Investors information shows.

Despite short-term volatility concerns, analysts remained optimistic astir Bitcoin’s terms trajectory for precocious 2025, with terms predictions ranging from $160,000 to above $180,000.