With stock markets closed and the world holding its breath after one of the worst weeks since 2020, the investors are worried of deeper crash. But since it’s Sunday, they turned to the one major market that never sleeps – crypto.
Ethereum collapsed by over 11% today, slicing through $1700 and $1600, and now trades near $1590 – its lowest level since early 2023. Bitcoin followed, sliding below $79,000. The entire crypto market lost billions in hours.
What’s happening isn’t because of any crypto-specific scandal or update. It’s something much bigger – a global economy on edge, tariffs firing in all directions, and stock markets frozen until Monday.
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Why Crypto Moved First
Crypto markets never close. They trade 24/7, including nights, weekends, and holidays. That’s usually seen as a feature – but this weekend, it became a warning signal.
After U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs rattled global markets last week, traders were left waiting for stock exchanges to reopen. In that gap, crypto became the only place to express fear – and a lot of people did.
While cryptocurrencies held quite well on Saturday, today they broke. Bitcoin lost around 4.5%. Ethereum was hit even harder. Altcoins followed. Billions in long positions were liquidated. The entire crypto market cap dropped to $2.52 trillion.
And the weekend’s selloff might just be a preview of what’s coming tomorrow on stock markets.
Ethereum Breaks Down
Ethereum was already under pressure, but today’s drop felt like a collapse. It wasn’t just the dollar price – which crashed below $1600 – it was the fact that it happened so quickly and without any ETH-specific trigger.
The ETH/BTC ratio also broke to its lowest level since March 2020. That means Ethereum is losing value not just in dollars, but in comparison to Bitcoin. Right now, it takes 49 ETH to buy one Bitcoin. That ratio hasn’t been this bad in five years.
And this isn’t a one-day thing. ETH has now lost around 25% in the last month. Even the recent confirmation of the Pectra upgrade date didn’t help. It’s becoming clear that technical progress isn’t enough when macro panic takes over.
The Global Panic Behind the Crash
What’s driving this panic isn’t just about crypto or even just about finance – it’s about global instability.
Trump’s announcement of a 10% baseline tariff on almost all imports triggered chaos last week. Then came a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union, and more targeted tariffs on countries like Vietnam and Indonesia. China hit back with 34% tariffs on U.S. imports. The EU is expected to approve $28 billion worth of retaliatory measures in the next few days.
Since the “Liberation Day”, U.S. stock markets lost trillions. The S&P 500 is down nearly 18% from its highs. The Nasdaq is already in a bear market. Investors are now openly comparing this to “Black Monday” – the crash of 1987 that wiped out 22% of the U.S. market in one day.
Liquidations Everywhere
Over $590 million in crypto trades were liquidated on Sunday alone. Most of that came from long positions – traders betting that prices would go up. Ethereum accounted for $72 million of that on its own. That helps explain why it dropped so hard.
And it’s not just ETH. XRP fell about 7% and is trading around $1.97 again. Solana and Dogecoin dropped 10% and 9%, respectively. Even Bitcoin, which usually acts as a kind of safe haven within crypto, couldn’t hold above $80,000.
Nearly the whole crypto market is red. But there’s one outlier – against all odds, Pi Network actually gained today about 8%, recovering to $0.60. That might sound impressive until you realize it had already dropped nearly 70% in the past month. So today’s move looks more like a bounce off rock bottom than a sign of strength. Still, when everything else is deep red, even a small green move stands out.
What Now?
Traders are split. Some think the worst is over and Monday will bring a rebound. Others see this as just the start.
Stock market futures open in a few hours. That will set the tone. If they fall sharply again, crypto could easily take another hit. If they somehow stabilize, maybe this weekend’s crash gets reversed just as quickly as it started.
There’s also growing concern that inflation could spike again, especially with tariffs pushing up consumer prices. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said it’s “too soon” to guess how the Fed will respond – not exactly reassuring for investors hoping for clarity.
