Ripple Effect of Trump’s Tariff Threat Triggers $19B Crypto Liquidation

A huge liquidation of 19 billion in the global crypto markets in 72 hours was the ripple effect of the 100 percent tariff on Chinese imports proposed by Trump. In a statement that panicked the entire risk market, the announcement dropped Bitcoin by approximately 5.5% to $68,000, and Ethereum by 8% to $ 2,450 (CNN.com).

🚨 BREAKING: BlackRock sold over 24,000 BTC ($2.68B) in the last 3 days. pic.twitter.com/SlhGFBnApu

— Andres Meneses (@andreswifitv) October 12, 2025

Leverage Turns Against Traders

The liquidation amounts to the biggest in crypto history with the 19 billion exceeding the 1.2 billion mark in May 2021 when China banned mining. On October 11, Trump administration announced tariff proposal that triggered the ripple effect in the world markets, according to CCN. The VIX fear index has also increased by 18 to 25 over night indicating an increasing uncertainty. The outcome: Bitcoin and altcoins dropped in tandem, and it turned out that global policy shocks do spread to decentralized ecosystems as well.

Tariff Threat Creates a Global Ripple Effect

The CCN report claims that a big whale on Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives market, went on to short Bitcoin and Ethereum just before the tariff announcement. The volume of Hyperliquid also increased six times reaching $1.2 billion within a day. Recent entry token ASTER, that had shot up 2,450 percent since September, fell by 90 percent to $0.24 after hitting a high of $2.42. CCN blames this decline to a liquidity evaporation as leveraged traders had to dispose of. Altcoins in the market were dropping 50-80% pointing to the exposure of illiquid tokens to macro-based sell-offs.

Zap Africa Demands Better Risk Management

The platform highlighted the three reminders, which include leverage is a two-sided sword, macroeconomics moves crypto, and risk management is non-negotiable. The service offered by Zap Africa enables users to exchange crypto directly to fiat without middlemen, which is an extremely important feature in times of high volatility.

Market Outlook

By October 13, 2025, the overall crypto market capital has decreased to 2.1 trillion, as compared to 2.25 trillion three days earlier. The increase in capitalization in the stablecoins has grown by 3 percent to $180 billion, which indicates traders are retreating to safety. The regulators back in the EU and the U.S. believe that leverage limits will be revised once more following this historic liquidation episode.