Economist and long-time Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff said crypto is “finally starting to crack” after a delayed market response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, announced Friday.
He took aim at Trump’s decision to impose tariffs, which have triggered declines in digital assets and equities globally. “I thought the dumbest thing Trump would do was establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. I was wrong,” he posted.
Despite some initial chatter on Friday about crypto’s resilience to the tariff news, Bitcoin fell 5.6% over the past 24 hours to $78,769, down 27% from its all-time high of $108,786 on January 20, according to CoinGecko.
Ethereum dropped 12% to $1,591, down more than 67% from its November 2021 peak.
It follows a broader downturn in global markets. U.S. stock futures tumbled Sunday night, signaling the potential for a volatile market open.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell as much as 8.9% on Monday morning. Taiwan’s Taiex index dropped nearly 10% after reopening, triggering circuit breakers for major companies like TSMC and Foxconn.
Crypto markets also saw heightened liquidations. More than $892 million in positions were wiped out over the past 24 hours, including $300 million from Bitcoin longs and shorts, according to CoinGlass.
Schiff, who is a founding member of Euro Pacific Asset Management, also pointed to the performance of the Official Trump meme coin, calling it “appropriate” that it was leading the decline.
The token, launched by the president earlier this year, is down 13.6% in the past day, now trading at $7.93—an 89.1% drop from its January 19 high of $73.43.
A longtime critic of the crypto industry, Schiff also expressed concern about what he described as industry leaders’ broad support for Trump’s trade policies.
“There are three possible explanations,” he wrote. “1) They’re actually this dumb? 2) They need to back anything Trump does to secure his continued support. 3) They believe the economic harm will benefit Bitcoin.”
Schiff has previously opposed initiatives linking government policy with crypto markets, including the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve proposal, and argued that Trump’s alignment with the crypto industry could lead to widespread losses for retail investors.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
