Trump Tariffs Shake Crypto Markets on "Liberation Day"

Trump Tariffs Shake Crypto Markets on "Liberation Day"

President Trump is expected to deliver sweeping tariff announcements any minute now, rattling global markets and dominating investor sentiment across crypto and equities. The planned measures, branded as “Liberation Day,” target trade barriers from foreign nations and could trigger immediate retaliation from countries like China, Japan, and Mexico.

Crypto and tech markets have already sold off in anticipation, with estimates for tariff severity ranging from 12% to over 30% across U.S. trading partners. “It’s not just a one-day event,” said Miles Deutscher in a recent YouTube video, warning that retaliation could stretch this into “tariff week,” with headlines driving price action in real time.

Bitcoin remains pinned in a $76K-$90K range as traders wait for clarity, while risk assets have underperformed globally with investors fleeing U.S. equities. “This is the biggest event of the year for crypto so far,” said Deutscher, noting that uncertainty; not the event itself, is what markets fear most.

Volatility is expected to intensify if Trump’s final policy tilts aggressively, especially for sectors with Chinese supply chains and coins tied to the Trump trade. Until then, traders are bracing for sideways chop, watching gold for signals, and hedging Ethereum and its Layer 2s while keeping Bitcoin long.

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FDUSD Depegs 9% After Justin Sun Alleges Insolvency

On Wednesday, Tron founder Justin Sun accused Hong Kong-based First Digital Trust of insolvency, prompting a 9% depeg in its FDUSD stablecoin. The claim followed a CoinDesk report detailing a lawsuit from TrueUSD issuer Techteryx, alleging First Digital CEO Vincent Chok misdirected $456 million in stablecoin reserves into illiquid projects. Sun urged users on X to immediately withdraw funds from First Digital.

FDUSD’s market cap dropped by $130 million in the hours following Sun’s warning. First Digital denied the insolvency claim and announced plans to pursue legal action against Justin Sun, calling the statements part of a "smear campaign." Analysts warn that instability in FDUSD could significantly impact Binance, which holds $2.2 billion worth of the asset in customer deposits.

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USDC Issuer Circle Files to Go Public on NYSE Under ‘CRCL’

Circle Internet Group, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, filed an S-1 form with the SEC to pursue a public listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “CRCL.” JP Morgan and Citigroup will act as lead bookrunners for the IPO, according to Circle’s announcement. CEO Jeremy Allaire said the move reflects Circle’s commitment to transparency and its role in building financial infrastructure.

USDC, launched in 2018 by Circle and Coinbase, currently ranks as the seventh-largest cryptocurrency with a $60.1 billion market cap. The IPO comes as stablecoin legislation heats up in Washington, where lawmakers are debating yield restrictions. Circle previously attempted a public debut via a SPAC merger in 2022 but withdrew those plans.

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OnlyFans Founder and HBAR Submit Joint Bid to Acquire TikTok

OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely’s new startup Zoop and the HBAR Foundation (the company behind the Hedera blockchain) have teamed up to bid for TikTok, according to a Reuters report published Wednesday. The partnership submitted a formal “intent to bid” to the White House and President Donald Trump ahead of an April 5 deadline mandating ByteDance to sell the app or face a U.S. ban.

The exact size of the bid remains undisclosed, and it faces competition from Amazon and other investor-led groups like Oracle and Andreessen Horowitz. TikTok’s potential U.S. divestiture has drawn bipartisan support due to national security concerns over Chinese data access. The Trump administration is expected to review at least one offer this week, with other last-minute bids including that of Amazon.

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Data of the Day

Ethereum’s revenue from layer-2 “blob fees” fell to just 3.18 ETH (around $6,000) in the week ending March 30, according to data from Etherscan. This marks a 95% decline since mid-March, when blob fee income peaked after Dencun upgrade. The dramatic drop raises concerns about Ethereum’s reliance on L2 activity to sustain network income.

Blobs were introduced in the March 2024 Dencun upgrade to reduce layer 2 transaction costs by storing data offchain temporarily. While initially successful, the transition slashed fee revenue and left Ethereum’s core income vulnerable to L2 activity. With the Pectra upgrade on the horizon, developers say Ethereum’s long-term strategy is to maximize scaling first and solve monetization later.

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More Breaking News

• Elon Musk’s X has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to block the IRS from using subpoenas to access Coinbase user data without individual suspicion or a warrant.
• Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has launched on Kraken and begun integration into Ripple’s payments platform, as its market cap nears $250 million.
• BlackRock has secured registration from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, allowing it to arrange crypto-linked exchange-traded products via iShares Digital Assets AG.
• GameStop has raised $1.5 billion through convertible notes and plans to use the funds to buy Bitcoin, echoing treasury strategies from firms like MicroStrategy.
• Grayscale has launched two Bitcoin ETFs using covered call strategies, offering exposure to BTC-related income without directly holding the cryptocurrency.
• Fidelity has launched a crypto IRA program allowing U.S. investors to add Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin to their retirement portfolios via three IRA account types.
• The SEC and Gemini have requested a 60-day pause in their $900M lawsuit over the Gemini Earn program, signaling a possible settlement under the new administration.
• Dogwifhat organizers have scrapped plans to display the meme coin on the Las Vegas Sphere and will begin refunding the nearly $700,000 raised for the campaign.

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