UPDATE May 23, 14:27 UTC: Bitcoin has recovered much of the losses made in European trading hours as US markets opened. BTC is up 2.3% from the daily low.
Bitcoin has plummeted over 4% from its recent all-time high of $111,900 toward $107,000 as US President Donald Trump announced potential tariffs on iPhones not made in the USA and EU-imported goods.
S&P 500 and oil futures fell over 1.6% and 0.9%, respectively, while gold is up 1.5%.
Trump claimed the EU has been “very difficult to deal with,” posting,
“The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with. Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable. Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Regarding Apple, he said,
“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else. If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S. Thank your for your attention to this matter!”
Bitcoin has now erased gains made in price discovery over the past few days since a new all-time high was printed.
Over the past 24 hours, all of the top 10 cryptocurrencies have declined in price. The best performer, Solana, lost just 1.2%, buoyed by the Solana community’s bullish momentum from Trump’s gala dinner last night.
Ethereum, Dogecoin, and XRP are down over 4%, with BNB bringing up the rear. Tether and USDC are obviously stablecoins, which have maintained their peg within 0.03%
