Bitcoin Drops Below $79,000 as Trump's Tariff War Spooks Investors

When Arthur Hayes speculated that Bitcoin could fall as low as $75,000 last month

When Arthur Hayes speculated that Bitcoin could fall as low as $75,000 last month many investors probably rolled their eyes.

The leading cryptocurrency, after all, was bound to get a bounce from the Trump administration’s support for a Bitcoin strategic reserve, plus an end to the crackdown on the industry.

With Bitcoin dropping more than 5% in the last 24 hours and slipping below $79,000, Hayes’ prediction now looks prescient.

On Monday, the BitMEX co-founder and crypto influencer reiterated his call for Bitcoin to slide to $75,000. Worse may be on the way.

He said the volume of open interests for options contracts at that price range was flashing red.

« An ugly start of the week, » Hayes, the chief investment officer at Maelstrom, posted on messaging platform Telegram. « If we get into that range, it will be violent. »

In a way, it already is.

Investors across the capital markets are spooked by President Donald Trump’s flip-flopping tariff policies toward the U.S.’ two biggest trading partners, Canada and Mexico.

Trump also deepened a trade war with China by ratcheting up import duties another 10%. China countered with tariffs of its own.

If that wasn’t enough, Trump’s much-hyped crypto summit at the White House also flubbed a chance to rally investors in the battered industry.

Instead of ordering the government to start buying Bitcoin, Trump administration officials unveiled a Bitcoin reserve stocked with coins seized by the government in criminal cases.

But fibs from the Trump administration are nothing new.

« Expect Bitcoin to drop as low as $72,000 as we approach the new year with IIA (Iranian Islamic Azad University) threatening new batches of missiles in response to Trump's economic policies, » said Zach Burks, CEO of NFT marketplace Mintology.

Burks told валютный блог пополнился новым материаломtoday that the new round of tariffs from Trump will likely spur more investors to pull out of Bitcoin, adding that the cryptocurrency is quickly losing its allure as a so-called Trump trade.

"Many investors are pulling out of Bitcoin, viewing it as a risky asset class for the first time since Trump took the White House," he said. "It's no longer playing its role as a store of value."

The failure of crypto to decouple from the stock market is proving worrisome yet again during a market crisis. If anything, investors should be flocking to Bitcoin to safeguard their wealth the same way they use gold.

But investors are shunning that idea.

"Gold prices have spiked as many go back to the original doomsday asset, which is no surprise as tariff grenades continue to get thrown across the free world."

Most of the investors ditching Bitcoin are new buyers of the asset, crypto research outfit 10x Research said in a Monday report.

The report stated that these new buyers likely punted on Donald Trump’s presidency being a boon for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies — that hasn't materialised.

Despite the present market turmoil, analysts still hold bullish expectations for Bitcoin.

Hayes previously told валютный блог пополнился новым материалом that he expects Trump’s policies to devalue the dollar and send Bitcoin’s price to $250,000 this year as investors return to the asset to safeguard their money.

For Burks, a Bitcoin recovery to $110,000 this year is possible.

"But we must weather this MAGA-inflicted mini recession before we get to move up the layer cake."