Crypto news

An Epic Plunge: Bitcoin Dives Headfirst into Tariff Waters and Collects Its Fears

BBG News

What to know:

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Alas, the cryptic cosmos of cryptocurrencies has taken a rather melodramatic turn! Major coins, in a splendid pirouette, have reversed their early gains upon the unfurling of Beijing’s tariff tapestry, a news flash hot on the heels of President Trump’s Wednesday whimsy of imposing additional levies on China and a plethora of other nations. Ah, the intricacies of economic folly! 🎭

Bitcoin, that digital darling, plummeted with the finesse of a lead balloon, spiraling down to $83,000 from $84,600. Pity, the descent seems somewhat restrained, perhaps owing to the market’s worst terrors tumbling into reality. How splendidly ironic it is—a market vexed by uncertainty, which, let’s face it, often breeds monsters of anxiety far bigger than the boogeyman threatening from the shadows.

Since the grand inauguration spectacle on January 20, the financial realm has been embroiled in the quagmire of tariff warfare and trade tumult. This tumult has dampened the bold spirits of investors, sending BTC’s worth dashing down from its stratospheric high of over $109,000 to below the dismal $80,000 mark just last month. Oh, the whimsical way of despair!

This week, in a flourish reminiscent of a magician’s grand finale, Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on a staggering 180 nations, with China, the European Union, and Southeast Asia bearing the brunt of these newfound pressures. As history would have it, the effective U.S. tariff rate now looms ominously above the approximately 20% threshold set by the notorious Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of the 1930s. Tariffageddon, indeed! 🌍💥

The erosion of uncertainty could be liberating for markets, as bond yields graciously descend across the advanced world in the aftermath, pricing in delightfully disinflationary scenarios. Contrary to the dreary narrative that tariffs would usher in a new age of stagflation—where inflation and low growth waddle hand in hand—the Fed may now, in its omniscient wisdom, consider rate cuts.

In fact, the illustrious U.S. 10-year bond yield has unnervingly dipped below 4% for the first time since October, while yields in the U.K., Germany, and Japan have joined the party. How refreshing! Oil prices too have taken a nosedive this week, spurred by prospects of a bountiful supply from mighty OPEC countries. Could this be a prelude to a renaissance for Fed rate cuts and all risk assets, cryptocurrencies included? 🍀

As this week unfurls, Thursday brought refreshing news from the realm of employment—a potentially backward-looking jobs report poised to either offer a glimpse of hope or drag us further into the murky depths of market melancholy.

With the macro uncertainty now decidedly behind us, the cryptic cadre of the market could once again turn its gaze towards positive occurrences. Witness USDC issuer Circle’s thrilling IPO filing and the myriad of technological advancements making waves!

On the Thursday stage, Coinbase Derivatives, invoking the spirit of innovation, submitted an avant-garde document to the CFTC for the self-certification of futures for XRP. Meanwhile, Ethereum developers have an appointment with destiny on May 7, unveiling the Pectra upgrade to the mainnet. How thrillingly predictable! 😏

And across the hallowed halls of the SEC, Fidelity has tiptoed closer to approval for a spot exchange-traded fund tied to the charismatic SOL. Ladies and gentlemen, the show is far from over, so stay alert! 🤡

Token Talk

By Shaurya Malwa

  • A crypto game dubbed Infected has staged a veritable coup, migrating from the labyrinthine Base network to Solana. Apparently, Base couldn’t handle the excitement of launch day! 😅
  • The Infected team cried technical wolf, revealing that Base’s shortcomings led to notorious gas price spikes and a user experience as smooth as sandpaper. Such irony!
  • They lament that high transaction volume led to catastrophic transaction failures during the game’s exhilarating debut. Can you imagine? Talk about a party foul!
  • Rumors of front-end issues abound, yet the team deduced that Base’s inadequacies were the culprit—a hallmarks of a pervasive challenge plaguing the Ethereum cosmos.

lol infected team’s website has bugs that bork their launch. they go on to say that their app was so popular that it broke base and they blame base and say they are moving to solana. peak grift.

idk i guess they thought this strategy would work?

— deployer (@0xDeployer) April 4, 2025

  • With poise and a smirk, Jesse Pollak, the architect of Base, opposite the Infected claims, confidently declared that Base operated like a well-oiled machine, offering support while holding its ground against accusations.
  • Developer ‘Saedeh’ chimed in, drawing attention to Infected’s apparent inexperience, pointing to the introduction of multiple tokens and exaggerated market cap claims as epic blunders.

Derivatives Positioning

  • BTC and ETH puts waltz at a premium relative to calls leading to June expiry, whispering sweet nothings of near-term downside concerns.
  • Positive dealer gamma at the $83K and $84K strikes offers a tantalizing promise, allowing market participants to hedge their books against the whims of volatility. 🧐
  • Perpetual funding rates for major tokens, excluding the all-too-solemn XRP and AVAX, maintain a marginally positive demeanor, suggesting a cautiously bullish ambiance.

Market Movements

  • BTC is up 1.25% from 4 p.m. ET Thursday at $83,032.61 (24hrs: -0.28%) ?
  • ETH is up 0.61% at $1,795.41 (24hrs: +0.15%) 🤑
  • CoinDesk 20 is up 1.54% at 2,479.75 (24hrs: +0.62%)
  • Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 6 bps at 3.08%
  • BTC funding rate is at 0.0023% (2.4988% annualized) on Binance

  • DXY is up 0.47% at 102.56 🌊
  • Gold is up 0.48% at $3,111.90/oz 🥇
  • Silver is down 1.38% at $31.40/oz
  • Nikkei 225 closed -2.75% at 33,780.58 🥲
  • Hang Seng closed -1.52% at 22,849.81
  • FTSE is down 3.4% at 8,186.43
  • Euro Stoxx 50 is down 4.26% at 4,895.26
  • DJIA closed on Thursday -3.98% at 40,545.93
  • S&P 500 closed -4.84% at 5,396.52
  • Nasdaq closed -5.97% at 16,550.61
  • S&P/TSX Composite Index closed -3.84% at 24,335.8
  • S&P 40 Latin America closed +0.21% at 2,453.38
  • U.S. 10-year Treasury rate is down 13 bps at 3.9%
  • E-mini S&P 500 futures are down 2.17% at 5,315.00
  • E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are down 2.34%% at 18,238.75
  • E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are down 2.26% at 39,854

Bitcoin Stats:

  • BTC Dominance: 63 (0.31%) 🤔
  • Ethereum to bitcoin ratio: 0.02162 (-1.05%)
  • Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 839 EH/s
  • Hashprice (spot): $46.31
  • Total Fees: 5.78 BTC / $478,070
  • CME Futures Open Interest: 135,025 BTC
  • BTC priced in gold: 27.1 oz 🪙
  • BTC vs gold market cap: 7.69%

Technical Analysis

  • Ah, the ratio of dollar values of bitcoin to gold is swinging low! Watch this crafty little dance. 💃
  • But hold on, gold may experience a “sell the fact” retreat in the wake of Wednesday’s tariffs. Methinks this could stir a breakout in the BTC-gold ratio—a true spectacle of cyclical emotion.
  • Such a raucous dance could be emblematic of a burgeoning bull run for BTC, as history shows this cryptocurrency tends to pirouette skyward following gold’s glittery escapades.

Crypto Equities

  • Strategy (MSTR): closed on Thursday at $282.28 (-9.68%), down 1.11% at $279.14 in pre-market 🎢
  • Coinbase Global (COIN): closed at $170.76 (-6.66%), down 3.29% at $165.14
  • Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY): closed at C$15.08 (-11.81%)
  • MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $11.23 (-9.58%), down 3.29% at $10.86
  • Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $7.30 (-8.98%), down 3.15% at $7.07
  • Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $7.15 (-15.08%), down 1.96% at $7.01
  • CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $7.41 (-7.61%), down 3.51% at $7.15
  • CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $12.75 (-10.46%), down 0.16% at $12.73
  • Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $34.06 (-8.02%), down 6.05% at $32
  • Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $42.63 (-9.93%), down 0.09% at $42.59

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs:

  • Daily net flow: -$99.8 million
  • Cumulative net flows: $36.23 billion
  • Total BTC holdings ~ 1.11 million. ⚖️

Spot ETH ETFs

  • Daily net flow: -$3.6 million
  • Cumulative net flows: $2.37 billion
  • Total ETH holdings ~ 3.39 million.

Overnight Flows

Chart of the Day

  • The global populace’s fervor for the term “tariffs” surged, reaching a crescendo of 100 on Thursday, a veritable beacon of curiosity and concern sweeping the trade-tax landscape! 📈💔
  • Historically, such peaks tend to signal the twilight of trends; thus, we may soon witness markets gazing beyond the tariffs through rose-colored glasses.

In the Ether





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2025-04-04 14:35

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