Crypto Markets Brace for Powell’s Speech After Trump Tariff Turmoil
Last week, President Donald Trump reignited trade tensions with Beijing by announcing plans to impose a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods imported into the United States starting November 1.
The announcement rattled markets worldwide, with the total crypto market cap plunging by over $125 billion within hours.|
Bitcoin, which had climbed above $122,000 earlier in the week, plunged below $105,000 following Trump’s announcement and briefly dipped under $102,000 on Saturday.
Ethereum fell nearly 20% during the same window, while Solana, XRP, and BNB recorded losses between 12% and 18%.
The sharp decline triggered massive liquidations across exchanges. Data from CoinGlass showed over 1.66 million traders were wiped out in 24 hours, resulting in $19.33 billion in liquidated positions.
Bitcoin and Ethereum alone accounted for nearly $10 billion of those losses, making it one of the year’s most severe deleveraging events.
Additionally, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index plunged from a “Greed” level of 64 on Friday to 27 (“Fear”) on Saturday, its lowest in six months.
According to Santiment, Friday’s sell-off was not just about tariffs.
The analytics firm said retail traders were quick to “rationalize” the downturn by blaming the U.S.–China standoff, but deeper structural factors were at play, such as excessive leverage and overextended long positions.
Analysts at The Kobeissi Letter agreed, describing the event as a “forced unwind” in an overcrowded market heavily biased toward long exposure.
Analysts say Powell’s upcoming remarks could either deepen or stabilize the current market turmoil. Traders are watching closely for any guidance on the timing and size of potential interest rate cuts.
Adding to the uncertainty, the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points in both October and December, with futures markets showing 97% and 89% odds, respectively.
