Bitcoin Price Slips to $83K as Trump’s Tariffs Rattle Global Markets

Bitcoin dipped 0.3% to $83,121.50 early Friday, weighed down by a broad market selloff sparked by sweeping U.S. tariffs. President Donald Trump announced a 10% universal tariff on all imports starting April 5, 2025, along with reciprocal tariffs targeting countries with high trade barriers against U.S. products. These include a 34% surcharge on China, bringing its total tariff to 54%, along with new tariffs on Japan (24%), the EU (20%), India (26%), and Vietnam (46%).

The aggressive trade policy has intensified global recession fears, prompting investors to flee risk assets. Equities across the U.S. and Asia plunged, and cryptocurrencies followed suit. Despite often being seen as a hedge, Bitcoin and other digital assets failed to attract safe-haven flows amid growing economic uncertainty and tighter financial conditions.

Ethereum dropped 0.9% to $1,804.57, while XRP rose 0.5% to $2.0706. Solana slid 2.1%, Cardano added 0.7%, and Polygon surged 1.8%. Among meme coins, Dogecoin lost 1%, while the politically themed $TRUMP token gained 0.5%.

Analysts warn that if macroeconomic conditions worsen, reduced liquidity and risk appetite could deepen losses in the crypto market. Investor focus now turns to U.S. nonfarm payroll data and potential comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which may offer clues on whether monetary policy will ease to counter slowing growth.