Bitcoin slid about 3% to around $92,000 in early Asian trading on Monday as traders cut risk after President Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs on eight European countries, linking the levies to his push for US ownership of Greenland.
Trump said the US would impose additional 10% import tariffs from Feb. 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Britain, and raise them to 25% on June 1 if no deal is reached.
European officials condemned the move, calling it coercive, as the tariff threat escalated a dispute already straining transatlantic ties.
Market snapshot
- Bitcoin: $92,506, down 2.6%
- Ether: $3,203, down 3%
- XRP: $1.96, down 4.7%
- Total crypto market cap: $3.21 trillion, down 2.7%
Holiday Thins Liquidity As Futures Lead Risk-Off Move
The shock hit global markets first through derivatives because US cash markets were shut for a holiday, which also thinned liquidity. US stock futures slid, with S&P 500 futures down 0.7% and Nasdaq futures down 1.0% in early Asian hours.
Asian equities slipped as the risk-off mood spread, with Japan’s Nikkei down about 1% and MSCI’s broad Asia Pacific index outside Japan dipping 0.1%. Europe looked soft too, with Euro Stoxx 50 and DAX futures both down 1.1% as traders priced in a new bout of trade uncertainty.
Currencies echoed the move. The dollar weakened against traditional havens, easing about 0.3% against the yen and 0.2% against the Swiss franc, while the euro steadied after an early dip.
Bitcoin Liquidations Accelerate As Leverage Unwinds
Commodities moved the other way. Gold jumped 1.5% to a record in the scramble for safety, and silver also hit all-time highs, while Brent and US crude both slipped as investors weighed what an all-out US-Europe trade fight could mean for growth and demand.
Crypto traders felt the macro jolt in real time because Bitcoin trades through the weekend and into Asia’s Monday open. As price fell, leveraged positions unwound, with some market trackers pointing to heavy long liquidations during the slide.
In Brussels, EU diplomats said ambassadors agreed to intensify efforts to dissuade Trump from following through, while preparing retaliation if the duties go ahead.
Options include reactivating a tariff package on 93B euros of US imports and, more controversially, considering the bloc’s never used Anti-Coercion Instrument that could restrict access to tenders, investment or services trade.
Strategists Warn Of Capital Flight Shock
Strategists also flagged a bigger market risk that sits behind the headlines, the flow of capital. Deutsche Bank noted European investors own about $8 trillion of US bonds and equities, and warned that a shift in those holdings could prove more disruptive than tariffs themselves, describing it as a potential “weaponization of capital” rather than trade flows.
The calendar adds more catalysts. China is due to report economic growth figures, the Bank of Japan meets later this week with investors watching for hints of tightening, and US data later in the week will shape expectations for when the Federal Reserve might cut again. Leaders also head to Davos, where trade and security are likely to dominate conversations as the Greenland dispute sharpens.
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