President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on Apr. 2, dubbed Liberation Day, has led to a massive sell-off in the markets.
On Apr. 3, the S&P 500 index fell 3.74% to 5,461.44 points, the Nasdaq fell 4.94% to 16,731.06 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dipped 3.19% to 40,880 points.
Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), formerly known as MicroStrategy, also dipped 7.71% to $288.44 on the day. The tech firm, well-known for its aggressive Bitcoin acquisition strategy, simply couldn't escape the devastating effect of Trump’s global tariffs.
The development, however, didn’t dampen the spirits of Strategy founder and chairman Michael Saylor. He posted on X (formerly Twitter) that there are “no tariffs on Bitcoin.”
The Bitcoin evangelist is well-known for his bullish outlook on Bitcoin; his firm Strategy holds the distinction of holding the largest Bitcoin treasury on its balance sheet among corporate firms.
However, the crypto market cap declined 7% to $2.7 trillion within a day of Trump announcing the tariffs on Apr. 2. In fact, the market witnessed more than $500 million in crypto liquidations during the period.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, also fell more than 5% within 24 hours to trade at $81,878.17 at press time as per Kraken’s price feeds.
The increasing institutional adoption of crypto assets of late doesn’t insulate it from the larger market anymore. The slump in the crypto market is significant because Trump didn’t mention Bitcoin or crypto at all in the speech.
However, Bitcoin maximalists think of BTC as a hedge against inflation. Experts like The Big Bitcoin Book author Fred Krueger think that investing in Bitcoin in a tariff world is a "no brainer.”