Ether, altcoins dive double digits as Trump tariffs take further toll
Ether and other major altcoins such as Cardano, Avalanche, and XRP experienced a steep decline, dropping over 20% in value within 23 hours due to US President Donald Trump's first round of tariffs on imports from China, Canada, and Mexico. On February 3, Ether fell 16% in just one hour, reaching $2,368, but recovered slightly to $2,521, marking a 38% decrease from its 2024 high of $4,078. Altcoins like Avalanche, XRP, Chainlink, and Dogecoin also suffered significant losses, contributing to an 11.4% decrease in the overall cryptocurrency market cap, which fell to $3.17 trillion. Market analysts noted that the sharp drop was fueled by stop-loss triggers and a retreat from retail investors, coupled with declining trading volumes. The announcement caused a notable shift in market sentiment, reflected in the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which fell to a score of 44. Bitcoin, while seeing a decrease as well, rose in dominance, indicating a shift of risk-averse traders moving away from altcoins to Bitcoin. The market's future direction may depend on the performance of US equities following the tariffs announcement.
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