Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen below $80,000 for the first time in 3 months since last November. This seems to be due to the increased macroeconomic uncertainty caused by US President Donald Trump's tariff policy.
As of 1:15 pm on the 28th, based on CoinMarketCap, BTC recorded $79,912.48, down 5.59% from the previous day. This is about a 25% plunge compared to the all-time high ($106,147) in December last year. This is the first time BTC has traded below $80,000 since Trump's election in November last year.
The main cause of this decline is said to be the market's unease caused by the announcement of Trump's tariff policy. President Trump's announcement of imposing tariffs on products imported from the European Union (EU), Mexico, and Canada has increased uncertainty in the global market. Many economic experts have expressed concerns that such a tariff policy could trigger inflation. As the risk of inflation has emerged, investors have been moving funds from high-risk assets like BTC to safe-haven assets like US Treasuries and the US dollar.
The US stock market also saw a significant correction. On the 27th (local time), all three major US indices closed in negative territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded 43,239.50, down 193.62 points (-0.45%) from the previous day. The S&P 500 index fell 94.49 points (-1.59%) to 5,861.57, and the Nasdaq index plunged 530.84 points (-2.78%) to 18,544.42.
Fav Hundal, chief market analyst at the Australia-based cryptocurrency exchange Swyftx, diagnosed that "as investors' risk aversion has increased, a downturn is being seen across risky assets, from cryptocurrencies to stocks." He also added that "while US exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were expected to make up for the market's sluggishness, record-level outflows have occurred over the past 7 trading days."
According to CoinGlass data, over $220 million in long positions have been liquidated in the cryptocurrency market recently. BTC-related positions accounted for nearly half of the total. This is slightly lower than the $600 million in liquidations on the 24th (local time), but it shows that the market's optimism that had built up since Trump's inauguration is fading quickly.
Some traders are even suggesting that BTC could fall further to $70,000. Crypto trader dmac said, "Buyers are taking a hit, and $70,000 is still the target price."
However, from a long-term perspective, optimism still prevails. Jeffrey Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered Bank, has forecast that BTC will rise to $200,000 this year and reach $500,000 before the end of Trump's second term.
