BTC Tops $82K as ETH and XRP Jump 13% on Trump’s Tariff Pause

The crypto market rebounded on Thursday after President Donald Trump unexpectedly paused a set of new trade tariffs, triggering a broad-based recovery across digital assets and equities.

Bitcoin briefly climbed 9% to around $82,500 before falling to $81,700 in the past 24 hours, while Ethereum surged 13.4% to $1,611. XRP rose 13%, while other altcoins also posted double-digit gains.

The move follows several days of steep declines across global markets, where rising trade tensions had sparked heavy losses in stocks and crypto alike.

The reversal came late Wednesday when Trump announced a 90-day pause on his planned tariff increases, surprising investors who had braced for further escalation.

Tariff Pause Sparks Market Rally, But China Still Faces 125% Hike

US President confirmed that duties on Chinese imports would rise to 125%. In his post, Trump said China had failed to respect global market rules, signaling no easing in tensions between the two major economies.

This decision followed Beijing’s move to hike levies on US goods to 84%, escalating a trade dispute that has weighed on markets for weeks.

While the pause offered temporary relief, the White House clarified that a 10% blanket duty on most US imports will remain in place. Existing duties on autos, steel and aluminium are also unaffected.

The S&P 500 closed 9.5%, marking its strongest single-day gain since Oct. 2008. Crypto markets followed suit, with total market capitalization climbing 5.9% to $2.68t, according to CoinGecko. Flare (FLR) and Ondo led gains among altcoins, jumping 34.9% and 21%, respectively.

Market Bounce Proves Costly for Traders With Over 131K Liquidated

Markus Thielen, head of research at 10X Research, described the move as short-lived. “The structural headwinds will remain as we will see during the US corporate earnings season,” he told Cryptonews.

Still, the bounce triggered widespread liquidations across derivatives markets. Data from Coinglass showed 131,555 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling $487.1m.

Bitcoin led with $185.2m in liquidations, followed by Ethereum with $138.8m.

While investors welcomed the temporary tariff relief, volatility is likely to persist.