Major tokens Cardano’s ADA, XRP, and Solana’s SOL plummeted 21% on Tuesday, just days after a dramatic surge fueled by President Donald Trump’s announcement of a U.S. crypto strategic reserve, erasing all gains sparked by the initial excitement.
The sharp reversal aligned with a cautious mood among traders after Monday’s market rally following the ambitious plan, as a CoinDesk analysis previously noted.
Trump’s Sunday declaration that the reserve would include ADA, XRP and SOL, alongside bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) ignited a market frenzy, with ADA soaring over 60%, XRP climbing 33%, and SOL jumping 22% within hours.
The promise of a government-backed crypto stockpile was hailed as a game-changer, with analysts predicting it could legitimize digital assets and drive institutional adoption.
However, the rally proved short-lived amid profit-taking and a general risk-off mood in broader equity markets.
“Trump’s latest tariff announcements on Canada, Mexico, and China caused a massive selloff of crypto assets, completely reversing the previous day’s crypto strategic reserve gains,” Kevin Guo, director of HashKey Research, said in a Telegram message.
“Despite a slew of pro-crypto deregulation initiatives and supportive policies, investors view cryptocurrencies as risk assets strongly bound by the performance of the US equity market.”
On Tuesday, China announced a 15% tariff on the import of various items after Trump, doubled the tariff on imports from China to 20%. The U.S. President also confirmed that 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada would be effective on Tuesday.
Bitcoin is down 9% in the past 24 hours amid the macroeconomic chaos, trading at $84,000 as of Asian afternoon hours. Ether lost 12% and trades just above $2,000 — its lowest since 2023.
With a White House Crypto Summit scheduled for Friday, investors are now bracing for more clarity — or further turbulence — depending on what emerges from the talks.