Bitcoin’s 2026 Macro Wildcard: Trump’s Tariff Playbook

[mendez]

Crypto Market Cap Througout 2025. Source: CoinGecko
As Bitcoin heads into 2026, one macro variable stands out: the return of tariff-driven volatility under Donald Trump. In 2025, crypto traders learned quickly that tariff headlines could move prices just as fast as ETF flows, flipping sentiment from risk-on to risk-off in a matter of hours.

Repeated tariff escalations last year triggered sharp sell-offs across digital assets. Bitcoin slid to multi-week lows, Ethereum and major altcoins posted double-digit losses, and liquidations cascaded as leverage was flushed out. Even when markets rebounded on diplomatic pauses, the message was clear: trade policy has become a first-order risk for crypto.

[johnblockbuster]

wild how crypto used to pretend it was disconnected from macro and now tariff headlines nuke charts in minutes

[bonk]

risk on / risk off whiplash every time trade talk pops up