On April 7, the crypto market experienced a massive drop in value, losing over $350 billion in just three days. Investors woke up to blood-red charts and more doubt as tensions rose around the world and market volatility soared. Cryptocurrency prices often drop, but today’s crash is caused by a mix of macroeconomic chaos, policy bullying, and waves of people selling their coins. So, what is really causing this freefall?
Fears Grow Amid US-Led Trade War
The present drop is primarily due to President Trump’s new 10% global tariff, which went into effect on April 5. The taxes have made markets around the world less willing to take risks, and crypto was no different. People are afraid that Trump’s aggressive behavior, especially his failure to negotiate with China, will make the trade war worse. Since there isn’t a way out, investors are pulling their money out of risky investments and putting it into cash and traditional securities instead.
Crypto Decoupling Ends
Bitcoin (BTC) had been showing signs for months that it was breaking away from standard financial markets, but today that story fell apart. Bitstamp saw BTC drop to $74,434—its lowest level since November 2024. That’s a loss of over 6% in one day. After that, Ethereum (ETH) fell to $1,400, a 16% drop in 24 hours. Prominent altcoins like XRP ($1.94), Solana (SOL at $110.61), and BNB ($561.82) all lost more than 10% of their value. Indications of a general retreat by investors are the synchronized drop.
Liquidations of the past
Sold crypto positions worth $1.4 billion in the last 24 hours are one of the most evident signs of how unstable the market is. A massive $1.22 billion was in long bets, which means that most traders were betting that prices would go up, but they lost everything when they did. 460,996 buyers lost all their money. The biggest event was a $7 million BTC/USD swap on OKX. Such large-scale liquidations make sell offs stronger and make people feel more pessimistic.
Conclusion
The crypto crash today is a strong warning that significant changes in the economy don’t stop at the blockchain. It’s a perfect storm for the market right now, with trade wars, investor fear, and the most significant liquidations ever.
