The global cryptocurrency market recently experienced a significant downturn, with its total capitalization plummeting below the critical $120k support level within 24 hours. This sharp decline followed an announcement by United States President Donald Trump, who threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, effective November 1. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump accused Beijing of hostile actions, claiming it was attempting to hold the world 'captive' and sending letters to various countries detailing plans to implement Export Controls on every aspect of production.

Before President Trump's tariff threat, Bitcoin (BTC) had recently achieved a new all-time high, trading at $121,300. However, in the wake of the announcement, BTC crashed below the $120k mark, reaching a new low of $109k on platforms like Binance. The impact was widespread, with Ethereum (ETH) dipping below $3,500 and Solana (SOL) falling below $150. Bitcoin's rapid drop resulted in a loss of over $10,000 in less than an hour, further declining under $114k before the situation worsened. This market instability wiped over $250 billion from the total crypto market capitalization, making it one of the largest single-day declines of 2025. As of press time, Bitcoin was trading at $112,296, reflecting a 7.91% decline, while Ethereum stood at $3,816, down 12.52% in value.

The ripple effect of the U.S. President's announcement led to massive liquidations across the crypto market. Over $7.5 billion in positions were liquidated within just one hour. Data from Coinglass on Saturday, October 1, revealed extensive liquidations over a 24-hour period, with Bitcoin leading at $5.39 billion, followed by Ethereum at $4.45 billion, Solana at $2.02 billion, and XRP at $710.35 million. In total, 1,673,146 traders were liquidated within the 24-hour window, amounting to a staggering $19.38 billion in total liquidations. The single largest liquidation event occurred on Hyperliquid, involving an ETH-USDT pair valued at $203.36 million.

Despite the widespread panic and market volatility, institutional demand for Bitcoin demonstrated surprising resilience. Glassnode observed that 'Bitcoin ETF inflows have continued despite the recent pullback, showing that institutional demand remains steady even as derivatives traders get chopped.' This indicates that a strong undercurrent of structural buying is still supporting the market, helping to absorb volatility and stabilize price movements. Key takeaways from this event include Bitcoin dropping significantly below $120k, reaching lows of $109k; over $1 billion in positions being liquidated in under 24 hours; steep declines for Ethereum, Solana, and other major altcoins; and sustained institutional inflows into Bitcoin ETFs suggesting confidence in a long-term recovery, even as Trump's tariff threat rekindled trade war fears and impacted global risk assets.