Cryptocurrencies, which had surged earlier this year under President Donald Trump’s market-friendly policies, faced a dramatic reversal after his threat to sharply increase tariffs on China triggered the biggest crypto liquidation ever recorded, according to data from CoinGlass.

Trump announced plans to double tariffs to 100% on Chinese imports, sending shockwaves across global financial markets late Friday. The announcement ignited a wave of panic selling in the digital asset space, exposing the massive leveraged bets that had accumulated during the crypto rally.

Major tokens were hit especially hard. Bitcoin, ether, and solana led the downturn, pushing total crypto liquidations to $18.28 billion as of 3:47 p.m. ET, CoinGlass reported. The sell-off didn’t stop at crypto—Wall Street was shaken as well, with both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 suffering their sharpest declines in six months on Friday.

Over a 24-hour period:

• Bitcoin saw roughly $5 billion in leveraged positions wiped out

• Ether followed with nearly $4 billion liquidated

• Solana lost about $2 billion

CoinGlass described the event on X as “the largest liquidation event in the history of crypto.”

Bitcoin dropped nearly 10% over the past week, recovering slightly to $111,616 by 3:45 p.m. ET after briefly plunging to $103,000 earlier in the day. Ether slid from $4,365 to $3,742, a fall of over 14%, while Solana tumbled from $223 to $178, a 20% collapse in value.

Crypto markets had been thriving since Trump took office earlier this year, boosted by his sudden embrace of digital assets. After previously criticizing bitcoin as “thin air,” Trump has pivoted sharply, courting crypto voters, creating his own meme coin, and pledging to establish a strategic crypto reserve for the United States.

Momentum accelerated last week after Trump signed an executive order permitting cryptocurrencies in 401(k) retirement plans, pushing bitcoin to a new all-time high of $124,000.

But the bullish sentiment was shattered as US-China trade tensions escalated again. Despite ongoing negotiations, Beijing retaliated Thursday by tightening export controls on rare earth minerals, prompting Trump’s tariff threat and igniting financial turmoil.