President Donald Trump surprised global markets by announcing a 50 per cent tariff on all imports from the European Union as of 1 June.
The statement, which cited "persistent trade imbalances and regulatory barriers," introduced new uncertainties into the macroeconomic environment, bringing an end to recent bullish trends in the cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell to $108,000 after the announcement, having touched an intraday high of $111,000. Although it has climbed back to around $109,000, it continues to face strong market pressure. The entire cryptocurrency market has fallen 4% in the past 24 hours, reflecting the downturn.
According to Coinglass data, crypto assets worth $64.13 million have been liquidated in the past four hours. Liquidations from long positions amounted to 34.05 million, compared to 30.09 million from short positions. Liquidations on Bitcoin reached 24.4 million, while Ethereum (ETH) recorded liquidations of 15.16 million.
The market is in a phase of uncertainty: the long/short ratio of Bitcoin is almost balanced, indicating indecision on the part of traders in the short term. Yesterday's data showed a predominance of long positions on Bitcoin at 54%, in contrast to the current balance. Several altcoins, including Solana (SOL) and XRP, showed significant volatility, reflecting widespread market anxiety. Most altcoins suffered heavy liquidations on long positions, a sign that many retail traders were taken by surprise by the sudden political change.
Macroeconomic volatility concerns have been rekindled by the latest developments, which came shortly after a trade deal between the US and China that had raised hopes of a decrease in global uncertainties. Experts predict that Trump's proposed tariffs could cause severe economic turmoil, as evidenced by sharp declines in European stock markets and increased selling in US technology stocks.
The crypto liquidation heatmap shows a market divided between fear-driven selling and recovery attempts. The situation remains volatile as traders watch closely for possible retaliation from the EU and possible developments in the negotiations.
In the past 24 hours, 162,419 traders have been liquidated, with total losses of $567.65 million. Cryptocurrencies, once seen as a refuge from the instabilities of traditional markets, are now showing their vulnerability in the face of major geopolitical changes. Instability will continue to dominate the markets as global tensions escalate.
