Markets turned red on Friday due to renewed concerns regarding tariffs.
Bitcoin $BTC fell by 2.1% over the past 24 hours, trading just above $104,000 after briefly reaching a session low of $103,900. The CoinDesk 20 index - which tracks the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, meme coins, and exchange tokens - declined further by 4.2%.
Smart contract platforms were particularly affected, with Solana $SOL losing 6.3%, Sushi $SUI losing 7.8%, and Avalanche #AVAX losing 7.3% respectively.
As cryptocurrency stocks fell, especially Bitcoin mining company Bit_deer (BTDR), which dropped by 8.3% on the day after the stock had risen by 132% from April 16 to May 21. Stra_tegy (MSTR) fell by 2.7%, and Coin_base (COIN) by 1.3%.
The bleeding was not limited to cryptocurrencies. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices fell by 1% and 1.5%, respectively, while gold lost 0.7%.
Tariff Clash Between the United States and China: Round Two?
The price movements were driven by escalating trade tensions with the United States once again after an agreement was reached earlier this month. Concerns arose after President Donald Trump accused China in a post on Truth_Social of 'violating' the tariff truce between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Pisent said in an interview that talks 'have stalled' with Chinese representatives.
In response, China urged the United States to 'immediately correct its wrong actions and stop discriminatory restrictions.
The easing of tensions between the United States and China helped high-risk assets rise in May, providing a boost for Bitcoin to achieve a new record level. Escalation now threatens to erase some of those gains.
