Bitcoin dropped more than 3% to $79,465.09 on Thursday as financial markets fell apart again, with traders dumping both crypto and stocks after a one-day rally sparked by a temporary tariff pause.
According to data from Bloomberg, cryptocurrencies moved in lockstep with U.S. equities, as fears around President Donald Trump’s trade policies hit markets across the board.
The S&P 500 lost 4.6% on the same day. That erased a huge chunk of its historic gain from Wednesday, when it posted its biggest single-day jump since 2008 after Trump announced a pause on some tariffs.
Coinbase, the biggest U.S. crypto exchange, dropped 8%. Strategy, a major Bitcoin proxy stock, also lost 8%. The Nasdaq Composite was down 4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 967 points, or 2.4%.
Apple stock fell more than 3% Thursday. Tesla dropped over 5%. Nvidia lost nearly 5%. Meta Platforms slipped about 6%. Every major tech name got crushed. Stocks that soared Wednesday lost ground fast. The pattern was the same in crypto.
Markets reverse as Trump targets China with higher tariffs
Trump hit China with a 145% tariff rate, keeping pressure on all goods coming in from the country. He kept a 25% duty on aluminum, cars, and goods from Canada and Mexico not covered by the USMCA. Everything else faces a 10% import tax. That tariff list stayed intact despite the pause on some items.
On Wednesday, Trump briefly eased some duties, which caused the S&P 500 to soar over 9%, its third-biggest gain in a single day since World War II. The Dow saw its sharpest percent rise since March 2020. The Nasdaq had its best day since January 2001 and its second-best ever. But Thursday’s losses wiped out a big piece of that bounce.
At a Cabinet meeting Thursday afternoon, Trump said he wasn’t sure if the tariff pause would be extended. “We’ll have to see what happens at that time,” he told reporters.
Melissa Brown, managing director of applied research at SimCorp, said investors aren’t feeling safe with the numbers changing so fast. “Uncertainty is a big issue because the 145% rate could be a different number tomorrow,” Melissa said. “It’s very hard to call a bottom or a top because things have changed so much in the narrative and investor perceptions.”
Crypto and stock volatility returns with a vendetta
Ether fell nearly 8% Thursday, and Solana’s SOL token dropped more than 7%, per data from CoinGecko. Read Harvey, an analyst at Wolfe Research, said Bitcoin held its ground better than expected.
“While it’s no secret that BTC is still closely tied to the daily fluctuations of the market and overall sentiment, its ability to hang in in the face of this recent bloodbath has been impressive,” Read wrote in a note on Wednesday.
Read added that Bitcoin has performed better than the broader market over the past month. While traditional stocks have dropped almost twice as much, Bitcoin has hovered near its $80,000 support level for most of the year. It hasn’t crashed, but it also hasn’t broken out. Traders are watching that floor closely.
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