Bitcoin fell to a near two-week low on Monday, extending recent declines as fears of more severe trade tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump eroded demand for risk-driven, speculative assets.
Broader risk appetite was also pressured by increasing fears of a U.S. recession, especially after Goldman Sachs said it saw a greater possibility of a slowdown in 2025.
Bitcoin traders in particular were also spooked by on-chain data showing about 4000 Bitcoins, worth about $332 million, were transferred onto crypto exchange Kraken. Movement of tokens onto an exchange usually heralds a potential sale.
Bitcoin fell 1% to $82,045.2 by 01:36 ET (05:36 GMT), briefly hitting a low of $81,300.
Trump tariffs, recession fears weigh
Bitcoin and broader crypto assets were dented by persistent risk-aversion, especially after a Wall Street Journal report over the weekend showed that Trump was considering higher tariffs against a broader set of countries.
Trump is set to unveil his plans for reciprocal trade tariffs on major U.S. trading partners on April 2, and is also set to impose tariffs on key market sectors.
The WSJ report said Trump’s tariffs could target up to 25 countries and impose tariffs of 20% against individual countries- a move that stands to destabilize global trade and draw retaliation from major economies.
Trump’s tariffs and their potential economic impact have been a key point of uncertainty for markets, having largely offset some positive cues from Trump’s establishment of a Bitcoin reserve.
Speculative assets such as crypto tend to underperform in times of economic uncertainty. Recent losses in Bitcoin saw the crypto wipe out nearly 40% of its value from record highs around the time of Trump’s January inauguration.
Fears of a U.S. recession also further undermined crypto prices, with Goldman Sachs raising its probability of a U.S. recession to 35% from 20% in the next 12 months. The investment bank cited uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs, sticky inflation, and signs of deteriorating consumer and business sentiment in the U.S.
Crypto markets were also reeling from a strong U.S. inflation reading on Friday.
Crypto price today: Altcoins fall with Bitcoin, nurse March losses
Broader crypto prices fell in tandem with Bitcoin, and were also nursing steep losses for March.
World no.2 crypto Ether fell 1.5% to $1,809.93, and was trading down 19.2% in March. The crypto also hit a 16-month low.
XRP fell 3.5% to $2.1022, having largely wiped out any gains made after the Securities and Exchange Commission, under Trump’s watch, dropped its long-running case against issuer Ripple. XRP was trading down 2% for March.
Solana was flat, while Cardano fell 3.4%.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin fell 2.7% to $0.166263, while $TRUMP fell 1.1% and was close to record lows.