Bill Ackman, the hedge fund titan and longtime Donald Trump supporter, has called for a 90-day halt to the U.S. tariff escalation set to take effect on April 9, as markets continue to feel the effects of recently implemented US trade policy.

Without the halt, Ackman warned, the country could be headed for an “economic nuclear winter” that would crush business confidence, halt investment, and lead to mass layoffs. 

“This is not what we voted for,” Ackman wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Business is a confidence game. The president is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe.”

Ackman’s plea follows President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would impose a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles, a 10% “minimum baseline tariff” on imports, and new “reciprocal tariffs” targeting countries with levies on American goods. 

“Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” Trump declared from the White House Rose Garden last week. “But it’s not going to happen anymore.”

The administration’s formula, trade deficit divided by imports, was quickly flagged by economists as overly simplistic and likely to backfire.

“By placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike… we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner,” Ackman said in his post.

That eroding confidence is now playing out in markets, especially crypto.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell to $77,300 on Monday, down 7.6% over 24 hours, erasing nearly $70 billion in market cap.  Ethereum (ETH) has slipped to $1,555, down 14% in a single day, according to CoinGecko data.

The drop follows a sharp but brief Bitcoin rally last Thursday, when the coin spiked to $87,800 during Trump’s tariff announcement before retreating sharply.

“The market is easily manipulated in its current state,” Tracy Jin, COO of MEXC Exchange, told Decrypt. “This carries the threat of new disappointments… and this will call into question the status of Bitcoin as a safe haven asset, which may lead to an even sharper outflow of funds from the ETF.”

According to Jin, a negative scenario appears more likely with Bitcoin dropping to the “$52,000–$56,000 range” by summer. Ethereum, facing structural challenges beyond tariffs, may fare even worse, she said.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

Bitcoin (BTC) traded above $79,000 Monday morning Asia time as markets around East Asia opened to chaos and carnage as the global sell-off continued.

The CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a measure of the performance of the largest digital assets, is down 8%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down over 8% during mid-morning trading, while Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index is down 7%, and the Taipei’s TAIEX is down 9%.

Major tech stocks across the region were some of the hardest hit. Alibaba shares in Hong Kong were down 12% while Tencent was down 9%. In Taipei, TSMC stocks dipped 10% in the first few minutes of trading, triggering the exchange’s price variation limit mechanism which halts trading in either direction.

TSMC’s correction comes as the White House says that semiconductors from Taiwan are exempt from tariffs, but the future of the CHIPS Act – which bankrolled the construction of semiconductor factories in the U.S. – is in question.

TSMC’s major correction on market open is likely foreshadowing of Nvidia’s open in the U.S. Some analysts say NVDA has become more volatile than BTC or ETH.

Elsewhere in crypto, Ethereum (ETH) is down 11% on-day, XRP is down 9%, and Solana’s SOL is down 10%.

Lending protocols Maker (MKR) and Aave (AAVE) were some of the worst performers on the market, down around 14% each.

Liquidation data from CoinGlass shows that in the last 12 hours around $675 million in long positions have been liquidated, compared to $123 million in shorts.

TRUMP, the Presidential meme coin, is down 13% according on CoinDesk data, putting it behind lending protocol majors as one of the market laggards.

Cryptocurrency prices were mixed last week after President Donald Trump announced his reciprocal tariffs and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned about stagflation.

Bitcoin (BTC) hovered between $82,000 and $85,000, while the market cap of all coins dropped slightly to $2.65 trillion. Some of the top cryptocurrencies to watch this week will be Aptos (APT), Ripple (XRP), and Solana (SOL).

Aptos 

Aptos’s price has been in a strong downtrend this year, dropping from November’s high of $15.32 to $4.70. This decline happened because of the ongoing crypto crash and its token unlocks, leading to substantial dilution. 

Aptos has a circulating supply of 604 million against its total supply of 1.14 billion, with 11.3 million tokens being unlocked each month. The next unlock will happen on Saturday, when tokens worth $52 million will be allocated to the community, core contributors, investors, and the foundation.

These unlocks come as the Aptos price hovers at an important support level. It has resisted moving below the current range at least four times since July last year. Therefore, a volume-supported drop below the current level will point to more downside, potentially below $4. The bearish view will become invalid if the coin rises above the 50-day moving average at $5.80.

XRP

XRP is another cryptocurrency to watch next week for technical reasons. The chart above shows that the coin traded at $2.10 on Sunday, a few points above the crucial support level at $1.9325. This is a notable level since it is the neckline of the head and shoulders pattern, whose head is at $3.4 and the shoulders are at $3. 

$1.9325 also coincides with the 50% Fibonacci Retracement level. Therefore, a drop below that level will confirm the bearish view of the H&S pattern and point to further downside, initially to $1.5370, the 61.8% retracement level. This target is about 26% below the current level. 

Solana

Solana, the popular layer-1 network, will also be one of the top cryptocurrencies to watch this week. Traders will focus on it because it has reached a crucial support level of $115, its lowest point in March. 

Solana is forming a small double-bottom pattern with a neckline at $147.18. This is an important bullish reversal sign. SOL has failed to move below this level several times since last year.

Therefore, a move below that support level will point to more downside, potentially to the support at $100.