XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE) experienced a plunge of over 10%, leading losses among major cryptocurrencies as new U.S. tariffs on China impacted Asian markets on Friday. This added to an already volatile week for digital currencies. Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 7%, nearing $79,000, marking a decline of nearly 30% from its January peak above $108,000. Ether (ETH), Cardano’s ADA, and BNB Chain’s BNB similarly fell by at least 9%. The overall market capitalization decreased by 8% to $2.7 trillion, reversing all gains since the early November election of U.S. President Donald Trump. The broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index fell nearly 9%. Despite Nvidia’s solid earnings on Wednesday, global equities faltered due to renewed tariff concerns, a slowing economy, and overstretched positioning, affecting cryptocurrencies given BTC’s correlation with the S&P 500 index. Augustine Fan, head of insights at SignalPlus, noted that liquidity has been depleted from numerous memecoin runs, and BTC faced pressure from record-high ETF selling. Friday’s crypto losses mirrored those of Chinese stocks, which slumped after Trump announced a new 10% tariff on Chinese imports, adding to trade war worries between the U.S. and China. The tariff adds to an existing 10% tax on Chinese goods, potentially hurting China’s economy amid a property crisis and falling prices. This move precedes China’s National People’s Congress, where economic plans and growth goals are expected. Any decision by China to boost the economy could impact bitcoin and crypto prices. However, bearish sentiment persists among some bitcoin traders. SignalPlus’ Fan highlighted that bullish option speculators are capitulating, with volatility decreasing against a lower spot price as calls are being replaced by puts. Concerns over MSTR (-10%) add extra risk to BTC due to their convertible funded buying, intensifying bearish sentiment on technical indicators. — news from CoinDesk
