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By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)
Tariff uncertainty is back to haunt markets, and it’s no surprise bitcoin BTC$66,249.24 traders are chasing downside protection.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs from April last year. Within a few hours, Trump had announced fresh tariffs, invoking a law that allows an import levy of up to 15% for 150 days to address “international payment problems.”
That’s confirmation the president still sees “tariffs” as the most beautiful word in the English dictionary. It also means trade-related uncertainty is here to stay, posing a headwind to risk assets, including bitcoin.
Bitcoin traders reacted accordingly. Since Friday, put options at strike prices of $58,000, $60,000 and $62,000 have seen the largest increases in open interest, or the number of active contracts, on Deribit. This is a clear sign traders are positioning for declines. A put option protects against price losses.
Bitcoin fell to a low of $64,481 early Monday after whipsawing around $66,000 over the weekend. The drop came amid reports of a whale, or large BTC holder, moving sizable amounts of bitcoin to an exchange, possibly for sale. Since then, the price has recovered to over $66,000.
Ether (ETh) also recovered from Asian-session lows near $1,856 even as blockchain data pointed to faster sales by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
Trade tensions could dominate sentiment this week, with Nvidia’s earnings potentially adding to market volatility. Analysts pinned hopes on the potential stabilisation of spot bitcoin ETF flows to support the market.
“A flattening of outflows would suggest institutional selling is maturing. Continued contraction would reinforce the defensive regime,” Timothy Misir, the head of research at BRN, said in an email.
“For now, liquidity defines the environment. Supply persists. Conviction is thin. The market is waiting for either macro relief or structural demand to re-emerge,” he said.
In traditional markets, Goldman Sachs raised its fourth-quarter Brent crude oil forecast to $60 and WTI to $56 per barrel, citing lower-than-expected OECD stockpiles. Crude prices have been buoyant lately due to fears of full-blown military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. A sharp rise in oil prices could add to inflation worldwide and weigh on risk assets. Stay alert!
Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.
