Crypto markets retreat: Bitcoin slips under major support on tariff worries

Bitcoin (BTC $90,516.70) and the wider cryptocurrency market fell on Monday following reports that the European Union is preparing €93 billion ($110 billion) in retaliatory tariffs in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Greenland-related comments.

The news weighed on European equities and U.S. futures, while safe-haven assets like gold and silver surged to record highs. Bitcoin, however, lagged, trading near $93,000 after losing about 2.5% since Sunday at 23:00 UTC.

Altcoins showed mixed results. The altcoin-focused CoinDesk 80 Index (CD80) dropped 4.64% over the past 24 hours but fell just 0.93% since midnight, outperforming the bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), which declined 2.5%.

Bitcoin has slipped back below its $94,500 support level after a brief breakout last Wednesday, putting it at risk of returning to the $85,000–$94,500 range that has held since mid-November.

Derivatives Activity

The pullback forced nearly $800 million in leveraged long positions to liquidate over 24 hours, reducing bullish leverage across the market. Total crypto futures open interest (OI) fell over 2% to $138.14 billion. Bitcoin OI rose slightly by 0.65%, while ether remained flat. Other major tokens—including SOL, XRP, ADA, DOGE, SUI, and LTC—saw OI drops of 8%-13%, reflecting capital outflows and rising risk aversion.

Despite the selloff, 30-day implied volatility for BTC and ETH remained steady, indicating traders do not expect extreme near-term swings. The volatility skew on BTC and ETH options stayed negative, signaling ongoing downside caution.

Altcoin Performance

Lighter’s LIT token fell 10% since Sunday, coinciding with HyperLiquid reclaiming the top spot in derivatives trading volume as Lighter lost momentum following its December airdrop.

Other altcoins were mixed: Monero (XMR $534.75) rose over 13%, while DeFi tokens like ETHFI, ENA, and JUP posted double-digit losses. Layer-1 networks APT and SUI fell around 10%, and mid-cap tokens underperformed the majors, reflecting continued liquidity constraints. Solana (SOL $127.70) and Cardano (ADA $0.3582) each lost roughly 6%.

The tariff-driven selloff triggered $815 million in liquidations, including $231 million in bitcoin and the rest in altcoins, according to CoinGlass.