Bitcoin drops below $92K as Trump's EU tariffs weigh on risk assets

Trump said over the weekend that he would impose a 10 per cent tariff on goods from 8 European nations starting Feb 1, rising to 25 per cent in June unless there's a deal for a 'purchase of Greenland'

By Suvashree Ghosh

 

Cryptocurrencies fell sharply as risk assets slipped and haven demand strengthened after US President Donald Trump proposed new levies on eight European countries. 

Bitcoin slid as much as 3.6 per cent to below $92,000 on Monday morning, while other tokens posted steeper losses. Ether, the second-largest digital asset, shed 4.9 per cent of its value, while Solana fell 8.6 per cent. The selloff knocked about $100 billion off the crypto market’s total value, according to CoinGecko data. 

 

Trump said over the weekend that he would impose a 10 per cent tariff on goods from eight European countries starting Feb. 1, rising to 25 per cent in June unless there’s a deal for a “purchase of Greenland.” That saw US equity-index futures slump as trading began Monday, while haven assets gold and silver surged to records. 

 

 

 

The President’s comments drew rebuke from European leaders, who are now poised to halt the approval of a trade agreement struck last year. 

 

Digital assets had been enjoying a promising start to the year, after ending 2025 in a malaise, unable to mount a sustained recovery from a brutal October rout. Bitcoin rose to just shy of $98,000 on Jan. 14, with strong inflows into a group of US-listed exchange-traded funds for the token. 

 

That was seen as “a rebound from the oversold levels driven by tax-loss selling and general capitulation coming into year-end,” said Richard Galvin, co-founder of hedge fund DACM. The latest bout of tariff concerns has pumped the brakes on that, while gold hitting all-time highs confirms the selling is “more a risk-off move than anything crypto-specific,” Galvin added. 

 

About $790 million of bullish bets on cryptocurrencies were liquidated in the past 24 hours, CoinGlass data show. Traders see $90,000 as the next stop if current support fails, “while bulls point to institutional demand as a potential floor,” said Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets.

 

Bitcoin was trading at $92,531 at 6:27 am in London.