Crypto sees more than US$6 billion in liquidations

(Bloomberg) – Cryptocurrency prices tumbled after US President Donald Trump said he would impose an additional 100 per cent tariff on China and export controls on software. Traders saw more than US$7 billion in positions liquidated in less than an hour, according to data from Coinglass.

Bitcoin initially fell more than 12 per cent after Trump made the announcement via a post on his Truth Social platform. The largest token, which had earlier this week reached an all-time high of more than US$125,000, was trading around US$113,000 as of Friday (Oct 10) evening in New York. 

Weakness in the crypto market had already been present coming into Friday. Over the past 24 hours, bets worth some US$9 billion in bets on cryptoassets have been wiped out, including US$7.5 billion in long positions and US$1.5 billion in shorts in the largest liquidation wave since at least early April. 

Smaller and less liquid tokens have been hit the hardest: XRP, memecoin favorite DOGE and Cardano’s ADA fell around 19 per cent, 27 per cent and 25 per cent over the past 24 hours, respectively.

“A renewed trade war between China and the US erupted on Friday, causing uncertainty in markets and a rout in risk assets,” said Ravi Doshi, co-head of markets at prime broker FalconX. The firm’s derivatives desk saw outsized demand for downside protection throughout the day, Doshi said. 

That ratcheting up of rhetoric between the US and China sent shock waves across markets, hammering stocks, oil and crypto while spurring a dash for the perceived safety of Treasuries and gold. BLOOMBERG