Bitcoin and stocks face pressures as Trump prepares new tariff announcements for April 2, sparking fears of a trade war and cooling investors' risk appetite.
Concerns about a global trade war continue to pressure traditional and cryptocurrency markets as investors brace for a possible tariff announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump on April 2—a move that could define Bitcoin's price trajectory throughout the month. Trump first announced tariffs on imports of Chinese goods on January 20, the day of his inauguration as president. Fears of trade tariffs have raised greater inflationary concerns, limiting the appetite for risk assets among investors. Bitcoin BTC 75,980 €.
has fallen by 18%, and the S&P 500 (SPX) has dropped more than 7% in the two months following the initial tariff announcement, according to TradingView data. 'Looking ahead, April 2 is drawing greater attention as a possible critical point for new U.S. tariff announcements,' said Stella Zlatareva, a dispatch editor at the digital asset investment platform Nexo, to Cointelegraph.
1-day chart of the S&P 500 and the BTC/USD pair. Source: TradingView
Investor sentiment took another hit on March 29 after Trump pressed his top advisors to take a more aggressive stance on import tariffs, which could be seen as a possible escalation of the trade war, the Washington Post reported, citing four anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
The announcement on April 2 is expected to detail reciprocal trade tariffs aimed at major U.S. trading partners. The measures seek to reduce the country's estimated merchandise trade deficit of USD 1.2 trillion and promote domestic manufacturing.
Bitcoin ETFs and whales continue to accumulate.
Despite the growing uncertainty, large holders of Bitcoin, known as 'whales', with between 1,000 BTC and 10,000 BTC, have continued to accumulate. Addresses in this category have remained stable since the beginning of 2025, from 1,956 addresses on January 1 to over 1,990 addresses on March 27—still below the previous cycle peak of 2,370 addresses recorded in February 2024, according to Glassnode data. 'Risk appetite remains low amid threats of tariffs from President Trump and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty,' said Iliya Kalchev, a dispatch analyst at Nexo, who told Cointelegraph: 'Still, the accumulation of BTC by whales and a 10-day streak of ETF inflows point to steady institutional demand. But aggressive surprises—due to inflation or trade—could keep the cryptocurrency market within a range during April.' U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) halted their 10-day accumulation streak on March 28 when the Fidelity ETF recorded outflows of over USD 93 million, while other ETF issuers recorded no inflows or outflows, according to Farside Investors data.