Bitcoin Drops 25% as Trump Tariffs Spark Market Volatility

Bitcoin holders are experiencing renewed pressure following the announcement of trade tariffs by US President Donald Trump, which has sent shockwaves through global financial markets, including cryptocurrencies. The tariffs have caused significant volatility in the market, leading to a dip in Bitcoin's price. Some community members, including BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, are taking advantage of the situation to buy Bitcoin at a discount. Hayes, who has been actively purchasing Bitcoin throughout the day, expressed his intention to continue buying, as the price hovered around $75,000. He also predicted that Bitcoin’s dominance in the broader crypto market could grow, expecting the current 60.5% share of the market to increase to 70%.

While Hayes is capitalizing on the market downturn, his investment firm, Maelstrom, reportedly sold Bitcoin in December 2024, when the cryptocurrency traded near its all-time high of about $100,000. In a blog post titled “Trump Truth,” Hayes had predicted a massive crypto crash after Trump’s inauguration in January, forecasting a clash in market optimism over his crypto policies and the realities of policy implementation. The gospel of Bitcoin evangelists to never sell and buy every dip is testing the nerves of hodlers, according to Petr Kozyakov, co-founder and CEO at the payments infrastructure platform Mercuryo. He noted that both amateur retail traders and high finance institutions are struggling to anticipate Trump’s next move, leading many traders to wait on the sidelines, weighing whether the market has been oversold. Despite the short-term uncertainty, Kozyakov remains bullish on Bitcoin’s long-term outlook as “the new digital gold.”

Kozyakov is not alone in his optimistic view of Bitcoin. ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood is also bullish on Bitcoin versus gold, claiming in February that the “substitution” of gold for Bitcoin has already happened. However, not everyone in the crypto community shares this bullish sentiment. Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter and serial crypto entrepreneur, is skeptical about whether Bitcoin can succeed as a pure store of value. He believes that for Bitcoin to remain relevant, it must maintain its payment use case. Otherwise, it risks becoming irrelevant, as people would only use it in emergency situations or when they want to get liquid again. Despite its volatility, Bitcoin continued to be a major payment asset on platforms like BitPay in 2024. Some jurisdictions have used Bitcoin as a tool of payment in global trade as well.