Ethereum News Today: "Trump Tariffs Trigger $19B Crypto Crash, Exposing Global Trade War Risks"

The global cryptocurrency market experienced its largest single-day liquidation event on October 10–11, 2025, with $19.13 billion in positions wiped out as U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on Chinese imports and export controls on critical software. Over 1.66 million traders were liquidated, according to CoinGlass data, marking the most severe deleveraging in crypto history. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) led the losses, with $5.36 billion and $4.43 billion in long positions erased, respectively. The largest single liquidation occurred on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, where a $203.36 million ETH-USDT position was wiped out CoinGlass^[1].

Bitcoin's price plummeted over 12% to $102,000, briefly before recovering to $113,000, while Ethereum dropped 20% to $3,510 CoinMarketCap^[2]. The total crypto market capitalization fell from $4.25 trillion to $3.8 trillion, erasing $200 billion in value Business Today India^[3]. Altcoins faced even sharper declines: Solana (SOL) fell 16%, XRP dropped 22%, and meme coins like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Pepe (PEPE) lost 22% and 23.84%, respectively Inside Bitcoins^[4].

The crash was triggered by Trump's announcement of retaliatory tariffs in response to China's export restrictions on rare earth materials and industrial goods. This move reignited fears of a global trade war, prompting a "risk-off" selloff across equities, commodities, and digital assets. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 dropped 2.7% and 3.5%, respectively, while gold surged 1.5% as investors sought safe-haven assets Yahoo Finance^[5].

Market analysts attributed the severity of the liquidations to leveraged positions in perpetual futures. "This was a black swan event," said David Jeong of Tread.fi, noting that institutional over-leverage exacerbated the sell-off Coinpedia^[6]. Brian Strugats of Multicoin Capital estimated total liquidations could exceed $30 billion as contagion risks spread across exchanges and DeFi platforms CoinGlass^[1].

Despite the panic, some analysts viewed the crash as a correction rather than the start of a prolonged bear market. Edul Patel of Mudrex highlighted historical October corrections and anticipated relief rallies of up to 21%, while Arthur Hayes of BitMEX suggested the sell-off created buying opportunities for fundamentally strong assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum CoinGlass^[1].

The event also exposed vulnerabilities in leveraged trading infrastructure. Binance and Coinbase faced system strain, with Binance reporting $7.44 billion in liquidations within an hour TheStreet.com^[7]. Meanwhile, a hyperliquid whale reportedly earned $190 million by shorting BTC and ETH ahead of the crash, according to on-chain analyst @mlmabc .

The U.S.-China trade tensions remain central to market sentiment. Trump's tariff policy, effective November 1, 2025, and China's export controls have deepened uncertainty in tech supply chains, which underpin blockchain infrastructure. Analysts warn that further escalations could prolong volatility, though approval of U.S. spot altcoin ETFs is seen as a potential catalyst for fresh capital inflows CoinGlass^[1].