Bitcoin sank to its lowest level in three months on Tuesday, with analysts pointing to lingering concerns around the US economy and a "risk off" attitude among investors.
At US$88,289, bitcoin was off 3.5% and at levels last seen in mid-November, when Trump’s election victory had helped boost the price of the crypto.
However, wider uncertainty around stalling growth and renewed inflationary pressure in the US with Trump’s sweeping tariffs is seen as having weighed.
Pointing to selling pressure on US equities most recently as a result, XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks said “everywhere you look volatility and uncertainty are rising”.
“The current environment of rising volatility is not conducive to cryptocurrency gains,” she added.
Bitcoin’s drop coincided with a 4.7% decline for the world’s second most valuable crypto, Ether, after a hack on cryptocurrency exchange Bybit last week also hit sentiment.
Ether is down 16% since Sunday’s close, with others like XRP similarly hit.
The moves in cryptocurrenies, "looks like a broad ‘risk off’ trade," said market analyst David Morrison at TradeNation, triggered by the $1.5 billion hack of the Bybit exchange.
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of trading platform BitMEX, warned bitcoin could be headed for the US$70,000 mark if the declining price prompted hedge funds to unwind positions in exchange-traded funds.
Saxo analysts said their Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped to 25 - aka "extreme fear", its lowest in months, following Trump’s tariff announcement.