The global crypto market faced a major price dip, plummeting below the critical $120k  support level over 24 hours after United States President Donald Trump threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese imports by 100% starting November 1. In a post on Truth social media, Trump accused Beijing of being hostile, attempting to hold the world ‘captive’, and sending letters to countries all over the world on plans to impose Export Controls on every element of production. 

Bitcoin crashes below $120k amid panic selling:

Before Trump’s comment, BTC had charted a new all-time high some days ago, and was trading at $121,300 before plummeting below $120k, setting a new low at $109k on Binance. Ethereum dipped below $3,500, and Solana dumped below $150. 

Bitcoin’s drop represented a loss of over $10k in less than an hour. BTC dipped under $114k before the decline got worse, wiping over $250B from total crypto market capitalisation, making it one of the biggest single-day declines of 2025. 

As of press time, BTC sells at $112,296 with a 7.91% decline in value, while ETH sells at $3,816 with a 12.52% decline in value. 

$5 Billion in crypto liquidation in 24 hours: 

The ripple effect of the POTUS announcement affected the crypto market, which witnessed over $7.5 billion in positions liquidated within an hour. As per data from Coinglass on Saturday, October 1,  BTC leads with $5.39B in liquidation, followed by ETH at $4.45B, with Solana liquidation hitting $2.02B and XRP liquidation sitting at $710.35m in 24 hours. 

In the past 24 hours,1,673,146 traders were liquidated, and the total liquidations come in at $19.38B. The largest liquidation happened on Hyperliquid -ETH-USDT value $203.36m. 

Institutional buyers see opportunity amid volatility. 

Despite the chaos, institutional demand for Bitcoin appeared resilient. Glassnode noted that ‘$BTC ETF inflows have continued despite the recent pullback, showing that institutional demand remains steady even as derivatives traders get chopped. 

This suggests structural buying is still underpinning the market, helping to absorb volatility and stabilise price action.’

Key takeaways:

• Bitcoin dropped below $120k, hitting as low as $109k on some exchanges 
• Over $1B positions liquidated in less than 24 hours 
• Ethereum, Solana, and other major altcoins suffered steep declines 
• Institutional inflows into Bitcoin ETFs suggest confidence in long-term recovery 
• Trump’s tariff threat reignited trade war fears, upsetting global risk assets.