"Crypto Crash: Tariffs Spark $2.2B Liquidations, Major Coins Plunge 25%"

The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant downturn today, with major coins such as XRP, Dogecoin, and Cardano's ADA plunging by more than 25% in a single day. This sharp decline erased all gains made since December and brought prices back to levels seen before the U.S. election in early November. The overall market capitalization fell by 12%, marking the worst drop in over a year, while the broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index lost 10%. Bitcoin (BTC) also dropped by 6% during this period.

Analysts attributed the market crash to a new wave of tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Canada and Mexico over the weekend, which sparked fears of a global trade war and soured sentiment for risk assets. The tariffs, which amount to 25% on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10% on Chinese goods, have caused immediate disruptions in North American trade relations, with both countries threatening retaliatory tariffs. Financial markets are concerned about the potential for increased costs on goods, impacting industries from automotive to agriculture and threatening jobs and consumer costs.

Futures markets reflected these losses, with traders of ether (ETH)-tracked products losing over $600 million in the past 24 hours, primarily during early Asian hours. XRP and DOGE bets lost a cumulative $150 million, altcoin-tracked products lost $138 million, and ether-tracked futures lost $84 million. Total liquidations crossed $2.2 billion, the highest this year and among the biggest such levels in the past year. The largest single liquidation order happened on Binance, a tether-margined ETH trade valued at $25 million.

Ether and top altcoins, including Cardano, fell double digits in an hour as the market continued to reel from U.S. President Donald Trump's first round of tariffs against imports from China, Canada, and Mexico. Ether (ETH) fell 16% in a single hour to $2,368 on Feb. 3 at 2:11 am UTC, before recovering to $2,521 but still down 38% from its 2024 high of $4,078 reached on Dec. 17. Avalanche (AVAX), XRP (X