Your bank is using your money. You’re getting the scraps.WATCH FREE

LIVE

Bitcoin underperforms risk assets

Bitcoin

Bitcoin underperforms risk assets as it drops below $65K, altcoins extend losses

  • Bitcoin dropped below $65,000 in early Asia trading, hitting about $64,090 as fresh US tariff worries spooked traders, and Ether fell 5% with altcoins sliding even harder.

  • US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs just posted their fifth straight week of outflows, with investors pulling $3.8 billion in total, marking the longest losing streak since February last year.

  • Asian stocks moved the other way, with South Korea’s Kospi hitting a record high as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics jumped, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged more than 2%.

See also  Gold makes yet another all-time high for the 50th time this year, smashes $4,500

Live Reporting

16:14Wall Street slides after Trump vows even higher tariffs

US stocks fell sharply on Monday after President Donald Trump said he plans to raise global tariffs following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down his reciprocal duties.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 763 points, or 1.5%. The S&P 500 lost 1.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.2%. Software names including Microsoft and Salesforce weighed on the market as concerns about artificial intelligence disruption continued to hang over the sector.

Donald pushed back hard after the court’s ruling. He warned that any country trying to “play games” would face even steeper duties.

“Any Country that wants to ‘play games’ with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have ‘Ripped Off’ the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to,” he wrote on Truth Social. “BUYER BEWARE!!!”

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats introduced legislation that would require refunds of tariffs collected under the higher duties the court struck down in a 6-3 decision on Friday. The bill is being led by Ron Wyden, Jeanne Shaheen, and Ed Markey.

Ron, who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement that “Trump’s illegal tax scheme has already done lasting damage to American families, small businesses and manufacturers who have been hammered by wave after wave of new Trump tariffs.”

14:11Fed's Waller says he is waiting on more data before backing next rate decision

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Monday he is not ready to say where interest rates should go next, explaining that he is weighing stronger-than-expected labor data against inflation readings he believes will cool as the year goes on.

He spoke in Washington, D.C., at an event hosted by the National Association for Business Economics.

Christopher dissented in January when the Fed decided to pause its rate-cutting cycle. He said the latest jobs report sends mixed signals.

Nonfarm payrolls came in above forecasts, but he cautioned that the headline number could be “more noise than signal,” pointing to other measures that show weak or flat job growth.

He made clear he wants to see more evidence before the Fed’s next meeting in March. Christopher said the January report could either be a one-off in a year that has produced little to no job growth so far, or the start of a rebound.

“There are enough asterisks around the January data that I will need to see the February report due March 6 before forming any judgment on whether there has been a rebound in the labor market,” he said. “As we get more data, I will be able to decipher which of these cases we are in and can then be more deliberate in my decision on the appropriate setting of policy.”

He also downplayed the potential policy impact of Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs. Christopher has repeatedly said he expects any inflation effect from tariffs to be temporary and not something that would shape his broader rate outlook.

12:50Oil pulls back as Geneva talks between Washington and Tehran move forward

Oil prices eased on Monday after Oman said a third round of talks between Washington and Tehran will continue this week in Geneva. The pullback comes after crude hit a six-month high.

Tensions across the Middle East have been running hot for weeks after President Donald Trump signaled that a strike on Iran could be imminent. That threat had pushed risk premiums higher as traders braced for escalation.

Late last week, sentiment cooled after Trump said any potential strike would be limited to military or government sites, lowering the odds of a prolonged conflict and reducing fears that Iran would retaliate against US bases in the region.

Brent crude climbed to $71 last week, its highest level in six months, as supply concerns tied to Iran drove prices up. Goldman Sachs said about $6 of geopolitical risk premium has been built into oil.

The next round of indirect negotiations is set for Thursday in Geneva. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to meet US special envoy Steve Witkoff, with Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi acting as mediator.

Abbas has been making the media rounds in the US. He spent more than 20 minutes on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday.

Over the weekend, he told CBS News that Iran is “still working on” a proposal for Steve but is “prepared to talk and negotiate on those drafts” in Geneva, adding there is a “good chance” for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on X on Sunday that Iran is “committed to peace and stability in the region.”

Masoud added that recent negotiations involved practical proposals and showed encouraging signals, but said Tehran is still closely watching US actions and has prepared for any possible scenario.

11:07Europe opens lower as tariff jitters hit risk assets and gold jumps

European stocks started the week in the red as investors reacted to President Donald Trump’s latest global tariff policy.

The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 slipped 0.3% shortly after 8:25 a.m. in London, with most sectors and major exchanges trading lower. The index was at 629.14, down 1.42 points, or 0.23%.

Germany’s DAX fell 0.46% to 25,144.86, down 115.83 points. France’s CAC 40 was flat at 8,516.75, up just 1.26 points.

In contrast, Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.91% to 46,896.26, Spain’s IBEX 35 gained 1.05% to 18,376.30, and the UK’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.14% to 10,701.96.

US futures pointed lower. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 219 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures slid 0.4%, and Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.6%.

Gold rallied as investors looked for safety. Spot gold climbed 1%, while gold futures jumped nearly 2% on rising uncertainty around inflation and global growth.

The latest round of tariffs was invoked under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose duties for 150 days before needing approval from Congress. For now, the volatility tied to that decision does not look like it is going away.

07:00Tariff jitters hit crypto while Asian stocks push higher

Bitcoin dropped hard in early Asia trading on Monday as fresh nerves over US tariffs hit risk appetite. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 5.6% to about $64,090, its lowest level in roughly three weeks.

Ether, the second-largest token, slid 5%. The 12 US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs just logged their fifth straight week of net outflows, the longest losing streak since February last year. Investors have pulled a total of $3.8 billion over that stretch.

While crypto struggled, Asian equities pushed higher. South Korea’s Kospi climbed for a third consecutive session, jumping 1.7% to a fresh record high. Heavyweights SK Hynix rose more than 3% and Samsung Electronics gained over 2%. The small-cap Kosdaq added 0.74%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.17% in early trade, even as the index showed 9,026.00, down 55.40 points, or 0.61%, on the session. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped more than 2%, trading at 27,035.80, up 622.45 points, or 2.36%.

Elsewhere, India’s NIFTY 50 rose 0.37% to 25,665.05. Japan’s Nikkei 225 showed 56,825.70, down 642.13 points, or 1.12%, while China’s Shanghai Composite stood at 4,082.073, down 51.945 points, or 1.26%, though markets in both countries were closed for a holiday.

On Friday in the US, stocks rallied after a Supreme Court ruling that could ease the burden of higher tariffs on companies and calm concerns about stubborn inflation.

The S&P 500 gained 0.69% to close at 6,909.51. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% to 22,886.07. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 230.81 points, or 0.47%, finishing at 49,625.97 after recovering from a 200-point drop earlier in the session following weak economic data.

What to know

Bitcoin fell below $65,000 on tariff fears as ETF outflows stretched to five weeks and altcoins slid.

Editor's choice

Loading Editor's Choice articles...

- The Crypto newsletter that keeps you ahead -

Markets move fast.

We move faster.

Subscribe to Cryptopolitan Daily and get timely, sharp, and relevant crypto insights straight to your inbox.

Join now and
never miss a move.

Get in. Get the facts.
Get ahead.

Subscribe to CryptoPolitan