Swan Bitcoin’s CEO Cory Klippsten noted the recent fluctuations in Bitcoin’s price, describing the rapid changes as “classic macro whiplash.” He foresees instability for Bitcoin in the immediate future after a notable drop to $102,000, triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a steep 100% tariff on imports from China.

“If the broader risk-off mood holds, Bitcoin can get dragged around a bit before it finds support and starts to decouple again,” Klippsten remarked on Friday.

Klippsten anticipates some market unease in the days ahead, stating, “Macro-driven dips like this usually wash out leveraged traders and weak hands, then reset positioning for the next leg up.”

$8 Billion Lost in Crypto Market

In the last day alone, there have been liquidations of long positions in Bitcoin worth around $2.19 billion, amplifying to a total of $8.02 billion liquidated across the wider crypto market, as reported by CoinGlass.

“We’ve got a little panic in the markets right now. Trump and China are trading tariff threats, equities are off, and traders are scrambling to derisk,” he added.

Cointelegraph’s head of markets, Ray Salmond, expressed that leveraged traders were caught off guard by the tariff announcement, which sent waves of reaction throughout the crypto sphere.

Bitcoin Price Recovery Bitcoin has slightly recovered to a trading price of $113,270 at the time of this report. Source: CoinMarketCap

Salmond elaborated on the discrepancies in Bitcoin prices noted on different exchanges, revealing that the BTC/USD pair on Coinbase hit $107,000 while Binance’s perpetual futures reflected a sharp drop to $102,000, illustrating the scale of liquidations.

Bitcoin Liquidation Heatmap Bitcoin liquidation heatmap, 7-day look back. Source: Hyblock

This isn’t the first time Bitcoin has faced a steep decline following Trump’s tariff announcements. During an earlier tariff introduction in April, the cryptocurrency also suffered significant price drops. When Trump implemented tariffs on various countries on February 1, Bitcoin fell below $100,000.

Analysts Remain Positive

Despite the recent downturn, several analysts view this as a potential buying opportunity. Bitwise Invest’s senior strategist, Juan Leon, stated via a post on X that “the best time to buy BTC has tended to be when it is being dragged down by broader markets.”

Additionally, Bitwise Invest’s CIO Matt Hougan reminded his followers that many investors often hesitate to purchase Bitcoin during downturns due to poor market sentiment, saying, “It never feels good when you buy the dip. The dip comes when sentiment drops. Writing the number down can be a good form of discipline.”