The claim about a 245% tariff is a false advertisement; it is not an official announcement. In fact, this number originates from the additional 100% tariff imposed by the Trump administration on certain Chinese goods (such as syringes, needles, etc.) during the trade war in 2018, combined with the current 145% tariff, resulting in the figure of 245%. Therefore, this claim is a misrepresentation. The current market is declining, and there is a lot of false information; everyone should be careful to discern the truth.
Today at noon, I saw a news flash stating that the U.S. raised tariffs on China from the previous 145% to 245%. Subsequently, major cryptocurrency trading groups erupted again, and the market started to decline in the afternoon. However, after checking the U.S. Trade Representative's Office (USTR) and the White House's official website, I found that 245% is not an official message but was released by a Chinese influencer named JenniferZeng15. Further investigation through grok3 revealed that 245% is not a uniform tax rate but the highest tariff rate for specific categories of goods. For example, during the 2018 trade war, the Trump administration imposed up to a 100% tariff on certain Chinese goods, which, combined with the existing 145%, forms the figure of 245%. Clearly, this is an exaggerated news piece. The current market is sluggish, and many traders may spread bearish news to drive the market further down for profit. It should be noted that once the cryptocurrency market enters a bear market, a large number of false bearish news will emerge daily, and various analysts will depict the bearish atmosphere from different angles, even predicting further declines, with the aim of tricking investors into selling their holdings. The cryptocurrency market is complex and full of information, and many news articles and analyses have specific purposes behind them. Since we have invested money and energy, we must take responsibility for our funds and learn to filter out noise and discern authenticity.
Let's talk about the latest developments regarding tariffs from last night. First, the negotiations between the EU and the U.S. broke down. According to Bloomberg, there has been little progress in resolving trade disputes. U.S. trade officials stated that the EU failed to understand the American intentions during the two-hour negotiations, resulting in the conclusion that the U.S.-EU tariff policies remain unchanged. The EU side publicly declared that the negotiations were at an impasse and that it is expected that the U.S. will not remove most tariffs on Europe. This was the main reason for the decline in U.S. stocks and the cryptocurrency market last night. In contrast, the tariff negotiations between the UK and the U.S. are progressing smoothly, with Vance stating that both sides will reach a 'great agreement,' with market expectations for zero tariffs. Additionally, last night, the Trump administration was sued by the U.S. International Trade Court over tariff issues, as the court determined that the power to set tariff rates belongs to Congress, not the President. U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and trade advisor Navarro have differing opinions; the former believes that the tariff policy towards China is unsustainable, while the latter advocates for continuing a tough stance. Rather than saying the market is swayed by Trump, it is more accurate to say that it is controlled by these two individuals. They are clearly in internal conflict, and if Mnuchin prevails, it would be a significant positive for the market; if Navarro gains the upper hand, not only will tariffs on China be hard to lower, but tariffs on 75 other countries may also remain, which would greatly impact the market negatively.
Although Trump's tariff policy currently has a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market, it may not necessarily be a bad thing in the future. The main reason for the current market downturn is the capital withdrawal caused by tariffs, leading to insufficient liquidity and triggering a broad correction in the cryptocurrency market, especially altcoins. Previously, funds had not flowed into the altcoin sector, and now they are being drained further, causing market sentiment to worsen, with many altcoins hitting new lows. However, this policy will not end the current bull market. As Trump said, once the market adapts to the new tariffs, subsequent performance will be very strong. As long as the money printing machine is running at full speed and interest rate cuts follow, liquidity crises will not be feared. More importantly, for cryptocurrencies, tariffs may become an important source of capital. Trump has repeatedly emphasized that taxpayer money will not be used to buy Bitcoin, but tariff revenues come from foreign governments or trade companies, which do not fall under the taxpayer category. Therefore, it is reasonable to use this part of the funds to purchase crypto assets. In summary, the issue of tariffs needs to be viewed dialectically: short-term bearish, long-term potentially bullish, at least a glimmer of hope for Bitcoin.
Finally, let's talk about altcoins. Today I heard a metaphor: Bitcoin is gold, and Ethereum is oil. Gold emphasizes value storage, while oil is the industrial foundation. Ethereum has indeed played the role of oil over the past decade, but in this bull market, there seems to be 'natural gas' emerging—like SOL, along with other 'new energies' such as BNB and TRX. Ethereum may have gone in the wrong direction by investing a lot of resources in aligning with Bitcoin's value storage attribute, causing its original smart contract platform or 'global computer' attribute to be eroded by competitors. This is also the reason for Ethereum's recent weak performance, with ETH/BTC hitting new lows repeatedly, while SOL/BTC continues to strengthen. The current altcoin market is sluggish, with CEX liquidity nearly depleted, and most coins are constantly hitting historical lows. Previously strong performers like OM, IP, and ACT have also fizzled out. On-chain, BNB, TRX, and SUI once tried to capture market share but were short-lived, disappearing after their founders' performances ended. Binance is somewhat better, as it can still list a few spots, but very few are truly profitable, with most people trapped. The most enduring remains SOL, which has recently seen the emergence of 'golden dogs,' such as RFC sparking a batch of absurd concepts. Recently, there were also DRAWIFY (Grok's new feature for drawing avatars) and FUR (for drawing plush effects), which had a strong dissemination effect, soaring to over $50,000 at the highest. FUR (for drawing plush effects) had a robust dissemination effect, reaching over $50,000 at the highest. DARK's performance is stable, exhibiting blue-chip characteristics, with a current market value of $20 million, focusing on the TEE Trusted Execution Environment AI Agents concept. $ALCH has also surged, belonging to the no-code platform and part of the AI sector. In summary, the current wealth effect is still concentrated on the SOL chain. After several ups and downs, it can be confirmed that SOL has become an absolute mainstream, while ETH has become yesterday's news. Perhaps in a few years, calling SOL 'oil' will be more appropriate.
