Five things to watch in markets in the week ahead
Investing.com-- Bitcoin rebounded above $115,000 on Monday after the largest single-day liquidation in crypto history wiped out nearly $19 billion in positions, triggered by a fresh escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last up 3.1% at $115,107.60 as of 02:32 ET (06:32 GMT).
Bitcoin slid to as low as $103,893.3 on Friday after trading above $122,000 on the same day. It had hit a record high above $126,000 in the prior week.
Trump’s fresh tariff threats sparked heavy crypto liquidation
The selloff was sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement on Friday of plans to impose tariffs of up to 100% on Chinese goods, alongside tighter export controls on key technologies.
The move jolted global markets, driving investors out of risk assets and triggering a wave of forced liquidations in highly leveraged crypto positions.
More than $19 billion in long positions were liquidated across major exchanges in a 24-hour period, in what data providers described as the biggest one-day liquidation event on record.
Over 1.6 million trading accounts were closed out as cascading stop-loss orders and margin calls accelerated the selloff, according to reports.
Exchanges including Binance, Bybit and Hyperliquid recorded some of their highest-ever single-day liquidation volumes. Other large-cap tokens also fell sharply, mirroring the plunge in Bitcoin.
Beijing responded to Trump’s tariff threat by saying it was “not afraid” of a trade war and vowing to implement countermeasures if necessary.
Trump struck a more conciliatory note over the weekend, telling markets to “not worry about China” and suggesting that no immediate escalation was planned. The softer tone helped calm sentiment somewhat, but traders remained cautious about unpredictable policy shifts.
The sharp swings in a single day after the announcement underline how closely crypto markets are tracking macroeconomic developments and geopolitical risks.
Once seen as detached from traditional markets, Bitcoin and other digital assets have increasingly behaved like risk assets, reacting swiftly to global shocks and cross-asset flows.
Crypto price today: altcoins bounce back after sharp sell-off
Most altcoins traded sharply higher on Monday after the broader sell-off weighed strongly on prices.
World no.2 crypto Ethereum jumped 9% to $4,167.36 after dropping below $4,000 over the weekend.
World no. 3 crypto XRP climbed 8.5% to $2.59.
Solana gained 7.7%, while Cardano added 9%, and Polygon rose 5.7% each.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin surged over 10%, while $TRUMP rebounded 5.2%.