Bitcoin Slips Below $104K, Cryptos Slide as U.S.-China Tariff Tensions Flare Up

Markets went red on Friday on renewed tariff-related apprehensions.

Bitcoin BTC is down 2.1% in the last 24 hours, trading just above $104,000 after briefly hitting a session low of $103,900. The CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, except for stablecoins, memecoins and exchange coins — slumped even further, by 4.2%.

Smart contract platforms were particularly affected, with solana SOL, sui SUI and avalanche AVAX losing 6.3%, 7.8% and 7.3% respectively.

Crypto stocks also took a hit, especially bitcoin mining firm Bitdeer (BTDR), down 8.3% on the day after a run-up that saw the stock rise 132% from April 16 to May 21. Strategy (MSTR) slid 2.7%, and Coinbase (COIN) 1.3%.

The bleeding wasn’t contained to crypto. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are down 1% and 1.5% respectively, while gold lost 0.7%.

U.S.-China tariff clash: Round 2?

Behind the price action was the flare-up of U.S. trade tensions once again after an agreement was struck earlier this month. The concerns came after President Donald Trump accused China in a post on Truth Social of “violating” the tariff truce between the countries.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Fox News interview that talks had “stalled” with the Chinese representatives.

China, in response, urged the U.S. to “immediately correct its erroneous actions, cease discriminatory restrictions,” BBC reported.

The cool-off between U.S. and China helped risk assets rally in May, providing a tailwind for BTC to clinch a new record high. The re-escalation now threatens to unwind some of those gains.

Read more: Bitcoin Whales Seem to Be Calling a Top as BTC Price Consolidates

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