Bitcoin slides below $119k as markets react to Trump’s China comments

Bitcoin dropped sharply, with the price breaking below $119,000 on Friday as stocks and crypto reacted to President Donald Trump’s comments about China.

Bitcoin’s price, which had moved to $122,000 as U.S. stocks opened higher, slumped as the equity market plummeted in reaction to Trump’s criticism of China regarding global rare-earth metals.

What did Trump say?

On Friday, Trump took to his Truth Social account to comment on what he termed China’s increasingly hostile stance on rare-earth metals.

According to Trump, Beijing has dispatched letters to various countries threatening further export controls on rare earths. Trump threatened to cancel an anticipated meeting with China’s Xi Jinping.

“We have been contacted by other Countries who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere. Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one. I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right!” Trump posted.

He noted that China isn’t the only one with monopoly positions, as the U.S. does too, and said its position is “much stronger and far-reaching.” Trump also mentioned an upcoming meeting with Xi.

“I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so.”

Bitcoin retests $118,500 level

As the Dow Jones tanked by over 500 points, Bitcoin (BTC) fell more than 2% to near $118,560 across major exchanges. 

The benchmark cryptocurrency traded just under the $119,000 mark at the time of writing. However, with Trump’s latest salvo against China triggering jitters around a potential new trade war between the United States and China, it is likely that bears could eye further downside.

Bitcoin’s daily trading volume was up 13% to over $74 billion.