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.

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.

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.