President Donald Trump’s October 10, 2025, announcement of a 100% tariff on all Chinese imports effective November 1 or sooner triggered the largest crypto liquidation event in history, wiping out $19 billion in leveraged positions, per CoinGlass data. Bitcoin (BTC) plunged 10% to $112,709, while Ethereum (ETH) dropped over 5% to $4,070, per CryptoAppsy. The sell-off erased $280 billion from the crypto market cap, which hit a low of $3.3 trillion before rebounding to $4 trillion on Monday amid U.S.-China de-escalation talks, per. Over 6,300 wallets on platforms like Hyperliquid were affected, with $16–$19B in longs liquidated, per. X posts from @Datrixa highlight suspicions of insider trading, per.
Trump’s tariff escalation, in response to China’s “aggressive” export controls on rare-earth metals and software, reignited U.S.-China trade tensions, per. This “Trump Trade” volatility has historically hammered risk assets like crypto, with BTC and ETH mirroring stock market downturns, per. The crypto purge, dubbed a “domino effect,” stemmed from a liquidation cascade on perpetual DEXs, where leveraged longs built during the rally were flushed, per. Analysts from Kronos Research attribute the downturn to profit-taking and unwinding of positions, with markets in “wait-and-see mode” ahead of clearer policy signals, per. ETH’s $4,200 pivot level is critical, per Vincent Liu of Kronos Research.
The market’s recovery hinges on upcoming events, per. Tuesday features Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech, potentially signaling September rate cuts amid limited data from the U.S. government shutdown, per. Wednesday and Thursday bring the New York Fed Manufacturing Index and Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, assessing business conditions in struggling states like New York and California, per MarketWatch. Thursday includes the NAHB Housing Market Index and Q3 earnings from banks like JPMorgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and American Express, per. Monday’s OPEC Monthly Report could sway oil prices and inflation, indirectly impacting crypto, per. Presto Research’s Peter Chung warns a hawkish Powell could deepen declines, while dovish tones may rally BTC to $120,000, per.
With BTC in a $112K–$120K channel and ETH testing $4,200 per, monitor ETF flows on SoSoValue and Fed updates via federalreserve.gov. Dollar-cost average into BTC or ETH with stop-losses below $112K and $4K, or diversify into USDC, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for real-time insights. If catalysts align, a bull run could resume, but tariff risks and data surprises loom, per.
