Crypto Markets Dip Amid US-EU Dispute Over Tariffs

Crypto markets pulled back once again today as traders reacted to a fresh wave of global tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, once again stoking uncertainty around global trade.

Total crypto market capitalization slid over 3% over the past 24 hours to roughly $2.29 trillion.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell from around $67,600 to around $64,400 on Sunday evening eastern time. Though BTC managed to bounce back over $66,000 Monday morning, it has since fallen back and is trading around $64,600 at press time.

Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH), the second largest crypto asset by market cap, followed Bitcoin’s sharp fall. ETH is down over 4% on the day and trading around $1,850.

The remaining top-10 crypto assets are seeing moderate 24-hour losses between 2%-6%. Dogecoin (DOGE) is faring the best among large-caps, down only 1.3%, but weekly losses are on the higher side at 7%.

Next Major Trigger

Analysts at glassnode noted that net realized profit and loss trends indicate ongoing market pressure.

In an X post today, the analysts pointed out that the seven-day average of net realized profit and loss for recent investors went from a loss of $1.24 billion per day on Feb. 6 to a loss of $0.48 billion per day, showing that people buying in the base formation phase are still selling at a loss.

Analysts at Keyrock said in a Monday blog post the next major market trigger could be NVIDIA’s earnings on Feb. 25, noting that equity markets are highly sensitive to AI-driven growth expectations.

“Given the equity market’s sensitivity to AI-driven growth expectations, guidance will likely have an outsized impact on tech, which Bitcoin has been tracking close to, and broader risk sentiment,” they said.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has slid to 5, deep in “extreme fear” territory, signaling that investor sentiment is once again at one of its lowest points in recent weeks.

Big Movers and Liquidations

Looking at the top-100 assets by market cap, POL (ex-MATIC) led gainers, up 3.3%, followed by tokenized gold assets Tether Gold and PAX Gold, both up about 1.4%.

On the downside, tokens of two of the largest decentralized trading protocols, Hyperliquid (HYPE) fell 8.2% and pumpfun (PUMP), led daily losses, both down about 9%. Commentators noted that the price pressure came after a tweet from ZachXBT teasing an upcoming investigation into “one of crypto’s most profitable businesses.”

According to CoinGlass data,nearly 139,000 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with total losses of around $503.1 million. Bitcoin accounted for $231.3 million, Ethereum for $127 million, and other altcoins totaled $33.78 million. Long positions made up $426.5 million of the total, while shorts accounted for $76.5 million.

ETFs and Macro Conditions

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded $315.86 million in outflows over the past week ending Feb. 20, while spot Ethereum ETFs lost a net $123.37 million, according to SoSoValue data.

On the macro side, the European Commission told the U.S. to stick to last year’s trade deal after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s emergency tariffs, Reuters reported on Sunday, Feb. 22. Trump hit back with temporary global tariffs, first 10% then up to 15% over the weekend, leaving markets dealing with an unpredictable trade scene.

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury yields barely moved at the start of the week. The 10-year yield dipped just under 1 basis point to 4.077%, the 30-year slipped slightly to 4.723%, and the 2-year nudged up to 3.482%, per data from CNBC.