Cryptocurrency Market Reels as Geopolitical Tensions Spark Massive Sell-Off The cryptocurrency market has been plunged into turmoil, with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin experiencing sharp price declines. This bearish sentiment was ignited by a significant geopolitical development: an announcement by former U.S. President Donald Trump, fueling fears of an escalating trade war with China.
The Geopolitical Trigger and Market Carnage
On October 11, the crypto market witnessed a substantial crash following Donald Trump's declaration on Truth Social. He announced plans to impose a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods, effective November 1, in addition to new export controls on critical software from China. This aggressive stance immediately sent shockwaves through global financial markets, including the highly sensitive crypto sector. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, plummeted from a high of approximately $122,000 to as low as $104,000 within 24 hours. Ethereum mirrored this downturn, dropping to $3,400, while Dogecoin fell dramatically to $0.11, breaking the crucial psychological support level of $0.2. This event triggered the largest liquidation in crypto history, with over $20 billion wiped from the market, surpassing the scale of both the COVID-19 and FTX bankruptcy crashes.
Exchange Practices Under Scrutiny
Beyond geopolitical factors, the operational dynamics of major cryptocurrency exchanges appear to have exacerbated the market's decline. Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, suggested that "big CEX's auto liquidation of collateral ties to cross-margined positions" was a primary reason many altcoins were "smoked on the move down." He remarked that such low price levels for many high-quality altcoins might not be seen again soon. Echoing this sentiment, crypto analyst Kevin Capital highlighted issues with top exchanges like Robinhood, Coinbase, and Binance, asserting that they prevented users from "buying the dip," thereby intensifying the sell-off pressure and contributing to the widespread panic.
