31 Mar 2025 Anthony Lehrman
Bitcoin Slips To $81,000 In Wait For Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs
The final trading day of March and perhaps the worst Q1 performance since 2018 are expected to see a gloomy start for bitcoin.
The present decline in Bitcoin is a clear reflection of stock and cryptocurrency traders' concerns over US President Donald Trump's new round of 25% tariffs on autos imported into the US, as well as the possibility of tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector. Trader trust has also been eroded by Trump's repeated claims that April 2 is "Liberation Day," the day on which a seemingly arbitrary amount for "reciprocal tariffs" will be allocated to different nations.
Stock futures are already down as of this writing, with the S&P 500 futures down 0.56% and the DOW futures down 206 points. As anticipated, the price of Bitcoin followed the movements of the stock market, plunging to $81,656 on March 30 to seal the seventh day in a row of declines. Equities markets appear to be closing lower for the month after a turbulent quarter, with the S&P 500 down 6.3% and the Nasdaq and DOW reporting losses of 8.1% and 5.2%, respectively.
Source: CoinMarketCap
Weak demand in spot markets and obvious derisking by traders who are hesitant to take new positions in BTC's futures markets are the main causes of the cryptocurrency's persistent drop.
Inflation increased more than expected last week, according to core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data, and the Conference Board's March consumer confidence data revealed that the monthly confidence index, which gauges respondents' expectations for income, business, and employment prospects, was at a 12-year low.
The likelihood of a recession is also increasing; according to a recent Goldman Sachs research, the 12-month recession chance increased from 20% to 35%. Goldman Sachs analysts stated in the report:
“The upgrade from our previous 20% estimate reflects our lower growth beeline, the sharp recent deterioration in household and business confidence, and statements from White House officials indicating greater willingness to tolerate near-term economic weakness in pursuit of their policies.”
Is there a bright side to the drawbacks of Bitcoin?
Institutional investors are still purchasing Bitcoin, and net inflows to the spot ETFs are still positive, despite the fact that many cryptocurrency analysts have publicly updated their optimistic six-figure-plus BTC price projections and now predict a return to the cryptocurrency's swing lows in the mid-$70,000 region.
