- Bitcoin dropped over 2.5% to $114K after the U.S. announced fresh tariffs, triggering a sharp reaction across both traditional and crypto markets.
- Altcoins like Ethereum and XRP also tumbled, contributing to a $270B wipeout in total crypto market cap in just 24 hours.
- Over $1 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated, with long trades taking the biggest hit as traders bet wrong on a bullish reversal.
Well… that escalated quickly. Bitcoin took a pretty nasty tumble late July 31, sliding more than 2.5% to hit $114,322—just when folks thought it had bounced back from earlier drops. The timing? Not great. It all came just hours after the Fed kept interest rates unchanged and—boom—fresh U.S. tariff drama hit global markets hard.
Markets Got Spooked — Not Just Crypto
So here’s the deal. The U.S. just slapped a massive 35% tariff on Canadian imports (yeah, Canada), and even more sweeping tariffs on other countries followed. This all dropped right before President Trump’s trade deadline ran out. And though a lot of people saw this coming, the impact hit fast—Wall Street dipped, with the Dow Jones closing 330 points lower. Across the globe, Asia followed suit. Taiwan’s TAIEX dropped over 160 points, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell too.
Now, the crypto crowd didn’t dodge this one. Ethereum got hit worse than BTC, falling 4.4% to $3,686. XRP took a dive down to $2.93 before clawing its way back to $2.99. Most altcoins lost around 4% or more, dragging the overall c
More Than $1B Gone in Liquidations — Mostly Longs
If you had long positions open, you might wanna look away. Over $1 billion in leveraged crypto bets got wiped out between July 30 and August 1. According to Coinglass data, long positions took the brunt of the beating—roughly $925.6 million gone, compared to $159.3 million in shorts.
BTC alone saw $142 million in long liquidations, and ETH wasn’t far behind with $166 million. Traders were clearly betting on another move up—and the market went, “yeah… nope.” It was fast, brutal, and honestly? A bit of a reality check.
