Cryptocurrency markets displayed notable resilience on Friday following the announcement of a new universal 10% tariff on imports by US President Donald Trump. This announcement came in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that blocked Trump’s previous use of emergency economic powers to impose tariffs. The shift in strategy, moving to more traditional trade laws, did not seem to provoke the widespread market selloff that typically follows such trade tensions.
Despite the tariff news, Bitcoin maintained a steady trading position at around $67,800, while Ether remained stable at approximately $1,960, according to CoinMarketCap data. The overall digital asset market capitalization held firm at about $2.33 trillion, indicating a cautious but stable sentiment among traders, rather than the panic seen in previous tariff announcements.
During a press conference, Trump criticized the Supreme Court’s decision as “ridiculous” and highlighted his administration’s intention to leverage different legal avenues for imposing tariffs. He announced that he would impose the 10% tariff under Section 122, alongside maintaining national security tariffs under Sections 232 and 301. The Supreme Court had ruled that the executive branch lacked the authority to enact tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in peacetime, emphasizing that such power is constitutionally granted to Congress.
Historically, tariff announcements have unsettled riskier assets, including equities and cryptocurrencies, since they often lead to tightened liquidity and uncertain economic forecasts. Past instances have caused significant selloffs across global markets. However, this time, cryptocurrency traders appeared to respond more measuredly, with Bitcoin showing only minor intraday fluctuations and Ethereum achieving slight gains over the past 24 hours. Other major tokens, such as XRP and BNB, also experienced modest movement, further reflecting a tempered market reaction.
The context of this announcement is rooted in previous tariff policies initiated by Trump, which included a 25% tariff on certain imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on Chinese goods, primarily justified on national security and trade deficit grounds. The recent Supreme Court ruling rejected these justifications as improper under the emergency statute, compelling the administration to revert to long-standing trade laws like the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and the Trade Act of 1974.
In a related development, Bitcoin has experienced a notable decline in millionaire addresses, losing approximately 25,000 in the year since Trump’s return to the White House. Even as US policies have appeared to become more crypto-friendly, blockchain data indicates that the number of addresses holding at least $1 million in Bitcoin fell about 16% year-over-year. This trend suggests that regulatory optimism has not effectively translated into sustained wealth growth on the blockchain.
Interestingly, the decline was less severe among larger holders; addresses containing over $10 million in Bitcoin decreased by about 12.5%, highlighting that high-tier investors seem to navigate market volatility more successfully than those nearer the million-dollar threshold. Much of the prior increase in Bitcoin millionaire addresses occurred before Trump took office, driven largely by a rally in late 2024 linked to election-related optimism and expectations for deregulation.
