Bitcoin’s weekend selloff led to about $100 billion in crypto market worth losses through the reporting interval and was triggered by a sudden burst of tariff coverage uncertainty.
Over the past 24 hours, BTC value had slipped under $65,000, pulling the broader crypto market down with it. The highest digital asset had recovered above $66,000 as of press time, in accordance with CryptoSlate’s knowledge.
Notably, liquidations amplified the transfer. CoinGlass knowledge confirmed that greater than $500 million in crypto positions have been worn out through the swing, with the biggest single liquidation reported on HTX’s BTC-USDT pair at about $61.51 million.
These losses characterize the sort of pressured unwind that may flip a macro headline into a quick, self-reinforcing transfer in crypto.
Consequently, the crypto market sentiment additionally cracked. In accordance with Alphractal’s knowledge, the crypto Worry and Greed Index fell to five, labeled “Excessive Worry,” a stage not seen since 2019.
Whether or not merchants deal with that as a contrarian sign or a warning signal, it match the tape as buyers have been de-risking first and asking questions later.
A courtroom ruling set off a series response, then the coverage path modified once more
The quick set off of this market rout was political and authorized.
On Feb. 20, the US Supreme Court docket struck down a broad swath of tariffs imposed underneath the Worldwide Emergency Financial Powers Act (IEEPA).
Reuters later reported that US Customs and Border Safety stated it could halt assortment of these IEEPA tariffs at 12:01 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 24, greater than three days after the ruling, whereas additionally offering no quick steerage on refunds.
That alone would have been sufficient to create confusion. As a substitute, the White Home moved rapidly to interchange the struck-down tariffs with a brand new framework.
On Feb. 20, President Donald Trump invoked Part 122 of the Commerce Act of 1974 and imposed a ten% advert valorem non permanent import surcharge for 150 days, efficient Feb. 24. He later revised the numbers to fifteen%.
He wrote on Reality Social:
“I, as President of america of America, will probably be, efficient instantly, elevating the ten% Worldwide Tariff on Nations, lots of which have been “ripping” the U.S. off for many years, with out retribution (till I got here alongside!), to the totally allowed, and legally examined, 15% stage. Through the subsequent brief variety of months, the Trump Administration will decide and problem the brand new and legally permissible Tariffs, which can proceed our terribly profitable technique of Making America Nice Once more.”
That sequence issues for crypto as a result of the difficulty was not simply the tariff stage. It was the tempo and unpredictability of the adjustments.
Markets needed to course of a courtroom resolution, a delayed company implementation, a brand new government workaround, after which a better fee, all in the identical information cycle.
For a market that trades across the clock and makes use of leverage closely, that could be a volatility occasion.
The true macro transmission was uncertainty, not simply tariffs
The crypto market selloff occurred in a macro setting already fragile.
The US Financial Coverage Uncertainty Index on FRED printed 706.97 for Feb. 19, a pointy leap that captured how rapidly coverage noise had change into a tradable macro issue.
The separate FRED categorical Commerce Coverage Uncertainty index was already elevated at 3,027.14433 in December 2025.
In different phrases, crypto was not hit from a peaceful baseline. It was hit in an setting that was already primed for disorderly repricing.
There may be additionally a second layer to the shock, the fiscal and balance-sheet overhang created by the courtroom resolution.
Penn Wharton Finances Mannequin estimated that reversing the IEEPA tariffs might generate as much as $175 billion in refunds.
It additionally stated IEEPA receipts had been operating at about $500 million per day underneath the prevailing tariff schedule.
These numbers are giant sufficient to have an effect on Treasury money circulation assumptions, importer steadiness sheets, and, by extension, the danger premium buyers demand in leveraged or cyclical belongings.
That may be a direct channel into crypto. When macro uncertainty rises, buyers lower leverage, cut back elective danger, and transfer towards liquidity.
Crypto feels that rapidly as a result of it’s usually the primary market the place positioning is gentle sufficient to trim and liquid sufficient to exit.
In the meantime, the tariff story additionally doesn’t mechanically translate right into a clear inflation unwind.
US banking big Goldman Sachs reportedly suggested customers to not count on costs to fall rapidly even after tariffs are lifted, as a result of firms have a tendency to lift costs quicker than they lower them.
Goldman estimated tariff passthrough had lifted core PCE by about 0.7% by way of January, with solely about 0.1% extra impression anticipated for the remainder of 2026.
That reinforces the concept that the dominant market variables listed below are uncertainty and margin strain, not a recent inflation surge in itself.
Cross-asset alerts lined up with that interpretation. Reporting on the tariff reversal and substitute described the greenback weakening and gold rising whereas BTC fell.
It is a acquainted sample when buyers transfer towards conventional defensive belongings and deal with crypto as a danger car moderately than a protected haven.
Commerce coverage continuity, not readability, stored danger urge for food underneath strain
If the Supreme Court docket ruling was speculated to calm markets, the follow-through did the other.
Reuters reported that US Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer stated international locations with present commerce offers weren’t transferring to withdraw and that the administration would keep coverage continuity, whereas additionally rebuilding its commerce technique by way of different authorized instruments, together with Part 301 and Part 232.
He additionally stated Trump raised the non permanent tariff to fifteen% due to the “urgency of the scenario.”
That posture helped protect tariff coverage, nevertheless it didn’t cut back uncertainty.
The European Fee responded by demanding “full readability” from Washington and insisting that “a deal is a deal,” after Trump moved from the courtroom setback to a brief 10% tariff after which to fifteen% inside a day.
Reuters additionally famous that the EU’s comparative benefit seems to have narrowed as a result of international locations with no deal could now face the identical 15% headline fee.
For markets, that’s the drawback in a single body. Coverage continuity exists, however coverage readability doesn’t.
And when readability is lacking, capital tends to shorten length and cut back danger. That’s what crypto traded like over the weekend.
Bitcoin is now again on the ranges the place positioning can speed up the following transfer
Inside crypto, the macro shock hit a market that was already technically delicate.
In accordance with CryptoSlate knowledge, $65,000 was already a key assist space for the highest crypto, with a break under doubtlessly accelerating the decline in the direction of $60,000. Nonetheless, a restoration again might assist shift the tone and push the flagship asset above $70,000.
In the meantime, the market had additionally seen a rise in choices hedging and draw back safety clustered round $60,000, which may make that stage extra vital if spot weakens once more.
That setup explains why the weekend transfer felt bigger than the headline alone. Tariff uncertainty hit macro sentiment, forcing liquidations to speed up the drop, and the market landed close to ranges the place choices positioning can begin to form short-term value motion.
So, the following part will doubtless rely much less on another tariff headline and extra on whether or not the coverage path turns into simpler to map over the following 150 days.
A grinding base case is feasible, with a brief surcharge in place, recurring authorized and administrative noise, and crypto caught in a large, risky vary. A aid rally can also be doable if refund steerage improves and the market begins to consider there are actual boundaries across the tariff regime.
Nonetheless, the danger situation remains to be the one macro merchants will watch most intently, a shift from non permanent surcharge politics right into a broader, longer commerce battle that deepens risk-off positioning throughout belongings.
For crypto, the sign to look at will not be one inexperienced candle. It’s whether or not coverage volatility stays elevated and whether or not buyers proceed treating digital belongings as the primary to chop when macro noise rises.