Cryptocurrencies have taken a nosedive following renewed fears of an escalating U.S. trade war.
Ripple, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, plummeted by over 10% at one point as disillusionment with the summit persisted. As of 5:30 AM on Monday, data from CoinMarketCap showed that Ripple had fallen 6.90% to $2.18 over the past 24 hours. Around 3 AM, it plunged more than 10% to $2.09. Throughout the day, Ripple traded between a high of $2.36 and a low of $2.09.
The largest cryptocurrency also fell, dropping 3.72% to $83,028. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, saw an even steeper decline, 7.77%, trading at $2,046. Other major altcoins experienced similar losses, with Solana, the sixth-largest by market cap, declining 6.07%, while Cardano, in eighth place, plummeted 9.85%. The more significant losses in altcoins than Bitcoin reflect shattered expectations that they would benefit from the cryptocurrency summit.
The sell-off followed the first White House cryptocurrency summit on Friday, where officials reaffirmed that the U.S. government would not make large-scale Bitcoin purchases. This stance was initially outlined in President Donald Trump’s executive order on cryptocurrency reserves, signed on March 6, which stated that national funds would not be used to purchase cryptocurrencies. Instead, reaffirming the administration’s stance deflated expectations, as the market had been hopeful that the U.S. government would take substantial measures to acquire cryptocurrencies to establish a national reserve.
