President Trump’s “Liberation Day” saw major tariffs announced for over 180 countries, including China, Israel, and Ukraine.
In the aftermath, global stock futures markets and Bitcoin (BTC) slumped, while Trump’s own Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin tanked by over 15%—sinking to lows not seen since the first hours of its launch.
The TRUMP token launched on Solana days before Trump’s inauguration, with the now-President embracing it as his official token and promoting it on multiple occasions. It was seen as a major sign that the incoming administration would act more favorably towards the crypto industry.
As such, it soared to a $15.18 billion market cap within its first day. But it soon tumbled by over 64% to $5.42 billion, after the First Lady Melania Trump launched her own meme coin—which was later linked to the issuers of the controversial LIBRA token.
Following Liberation Day, TRUMP has tanked 15.4% to a market cap of $1.78 billion, according to CoinGecko, lows only seen within three hours of the token’s launch. Its slide outpaced that of other leading cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin (BTC) slipping 5.2% on the day, Ethereum (ETH) sliding 6.5%, and Dogecoin (DOGE) 9.8%.
Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’
Since regaining power, President Trump has launched a trade war, promising to implement tariffs across the globe.
“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said at the Liberation Day event. “Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years. But it is not going to happen anymore.”
With its close ties to the President, the TRUMP meme coin has borne the brunt of the fallout from Trump’s trade war, crashing 25% in early March while Bitcoin fell just 10%.
Peter Tchir, head of macro strategy at Academy Securities, called the surprisingly high tariff figures a “disaster,” while ‘The Wisdom of Crowds’ author James Surowiecki questioned the logic of the math used to determine each country’s tariffs. Cambodia was hit with the harshest tariffs at 49%, followed by Laos at 48% and Madagascar at 47%.
Throughout the Liberation Day event, it was stated that each rate put on a nation reflected the effective tariffs that it was charging the U.S., via trade barriers and “currency manipulation.” It was explained this was calculated using “the combined rate of all their tariffs and non-monetary barriers.”
In fact, a post from White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai revealed, the tariffs charged to the U.S. were calculated by taking the trade deficit with a country and dividing it by its imports.
As a result, a number of surprising countries were targeted, including the Heard and McDonald Islands—which were slapped with a 10% tariff despite being uninhabited. The White House told Politico that the islands were listed because they are Australian territories.