- The crypto market turned red after a new tariff threat from President Trump.
- Trump warned he might halt imports of cooking oil from China over soybean purchases.
- Bitcoin fell 2.4% and Ether 3.3% within an hour of the post.
A single social-media post sent another wave of fear through the cryptocurrency market as an unexpected tariff threat from U.S. President Donald Trump sparked a fresh sell-off, pushing the broader digital asset sector into negative territory.
The sudden downturn is a stark reminder of how sensitive the market remains to the president’s comments — a fragility that was brutally exposed last week during a historic liquidation event.
An “economically hostile act,” immediate market reaction
The trigger for the latest sell-off was a Truth Social post on October 14 in which President Trump criticized Beijing’s trade conduct, specifically accusing China of failing to buy American soybeans.
“I believe China is purposely not buying our soybeans and making life difficult for our soybean farmers, which is an economically hostile act,” Trump wrote.
We are considering stopping trade with China that involves cooking oils and other elements of commerce as retaliation. For example, we can easily produce cooking oil ourselves; we do not need to buy it from China.
The market reaction was immediate and severe. Within an hour of the post, Bitcoin (BTC) fell about 2.4% to roughly $112,861, while Ether (ETH) dropped around 3.3% to $4,108.
Total crypto market capitalization declined by about 2.9%, a clear and direct response to the president’s renewed trade threats.
The specter of past liquidations
While significant, this latest pullback is, comparatively, an aftershock of the quake that rattled markets last week.
An earlier Trump threat to impose 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports triggered a severe, historic crash.
At the height of that “bloodbath,” more than $19.2 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated — the largest one-day wipeout in crypto history — overwhelming major exchanges and brokers.
The memory of that carnage is still fresh and has left the market in a fragile, jittery state.
Even before the recent post, crypto analysts had warned of a potential market collapse; a prominent analyst urged traders on October 13 to exit positions ahead of a “big dump.”
A market on a knife’s edge
Latest data from Coinglass indicate the market continues to bleed from last week’s wounds.
In the past 24 hours, an additional $715.13 million in positions were liquidated, the vast majority being bullish long positions.
This fresh wave of selling — sparked by a presidential post about soybeans and cooking oil — underscores the strange and unpredictable forces currently shaping the digital-asset landscape.
In a market still haunted by the specter of a historic crash and moved by the whims of a single social feed, the only certainty is rising uncertainty.