Markets around the world continued to plunge following China’s retaliatory tariffs on Friday, deepening the sell-off triggered by the agressive trade measures of the US. The S&P 500 fell 6%, with similarly sharp losses across the Dow, Nasdaq, and Russell 2000. Futures point to further declines. The Asia-Pacific region saw sharp losses, led by a 12% drop in the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, its worst single day drop in 16 years, while other major equity gauges in Asia-Pacific markets fell.
US President Trump vowed to maintain tariffs on China until the trade deficit is reduced, dismissing concerns over market turmoil by stating, “I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said more than 50 nations had started negotiations with the US since last Wednesday's announcement. Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated there’s no urgency to change interest rates, despite growing recession risks—now seen at 64% on Polymarket. In Europe, the ECB is expected to cut rates, with markets pricing in an 86% chance this month.
In crypto, Friday’s gains have been erased. Bitcoin dropped 9.80% over the past 24h and trades around $75,000, while its 24h trading volume is up 307% to $55.27bn, and Ether 19.40% to $1,450, with a 24h volume increasing by almost 410% to $32.59bn. Altcoins are seeing sharper declines as risk sentiment continues to deteriorate across financial markets.
The global crypto market is down 11% in the past 24 hours to $2.37tn. The total crypto market 24h volume increased 214% to $131.4bn.
In the past 24 hours, crypto liquidations increased by 1085%, and totaled $1.35bn, with 89% of them long positions.
According to data from Farside Investors, US Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded daily net outflows on Apr 4 across Grayscale's GBTC ($-25.2m), Ark's ARKB ($-21.8m) and Bitwise BITB ($-17.9m), bringing total outflows to $64.9m. ETH ETFs recorded a modest inflow of $2.1m, all going into Franklin's EZET. Despite that, both ETFs ended the week recording net outflows, amounting to $165bn for BTC ETFs and $50m for ETH ETFs.
The total value locked in DeFi is down over 8% in the past day and is not below $90bn at $87.30bn.
source: DefiLlama
Elon Musk, in a meeting Saturday via video conference, spoke with Italy’s far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, urging the creation of a free trade zone between the EU and the US, stating that they should “move ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday urged global leaders to engage directly with his state, vowing to seek exemptions for California exports from retaliatory tariffs tied to Trump’s “Liberation Day” measures. In a video message, Newsom said California is ready to talk and pledged to use the state’s market power to oppose what he called “the largest tax hike of our lifetime.”
Binance Pay has made Circle’s USDC the default currency for all new users.
PumpDotFun has reinstated livestreaming for 5% of users with a new content moderation policy after suspending the feature due to abusive broadcasts, aiming to balance safety with creative freedom.
Grayscale Investments said on Friday it has filed with US regulators to convert its Solana Trust into a Solana ETF. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve any Solana ETF applications, which started arriving last summer.
PayPal has added chainlink (LINK) and solana (SOL) to its list of supported cryptocurrencies, giving US users of both PayPal and Venmo the ability to buy, hold, sell and transfer the tokens directly from their accounts.
Brazil's Superior Court of Justice has ruled that judges can notify cryptocurrency exchanges to seize cryptocurrency assets from debtors who owe money and are behind on their payments.
Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest added 83,157 Coinbase shares worth about $13.4 million across three of its ETFs on Friday, taking advantage of a 5% weekly drop in the stock amid a broader market selloff.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Circle is likely to delay its IPO due to economic instability triggered by the US new trade policies.
Bitfarms (BITF) has secured an initial agreement for up to $300 million in private debt financing from Macquarie Equipment Capital to fund the development of its 500 MW high-performance computing data center in Pennsylvania, with an initial $50 million tranche drawn and further funding tied to project milestones, carrying 8% annual interest and including equity warrants priced at a 25% premium to recent average trading price.