Bitcoin and XRP Prices Fall. Why Trump's Tariffs Are Hurting Cryptos. — Barrons.com

By Dow Jones Newswires Staff

Shares in automakers across Asia and Europe slumped after President Trump announced a 25% tariff on global automotive imports into the U.S., dampening hopes for relief on the trade front.

The knock on also hit major stock indexes generally, and the dollar fell.

• As Trump's auto tariff plan rippled around the world, South Korea led declines in Asia, with the stock market there closing 1.4% lower. Citigroup analysts said the traffic could lower South Korea's gross domestic product growth by 0.12%. The Nikkei closed the session down 0.6%. Companies like Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai fell, putting some under credit-ratings pressure.
• In Europe, all major car makers and suppliers such as tyre makers fell in early trade, with luxury brands hit hard. BMW shares fell 4.6% and Mercedes-Benz lost 4.2%. Stellantis, the owner of the Jeep and Dodge brands, shed more than 5% in Milan. Pirelli was down more than 2.5%. Meanwhile, Volvo Car shares were down more than 6%. The Stoxx 600 autos index was down 2.8%.
• The dollar edged lower after gains in the previous session as investors reacted to Trump's automotive imports tariff. The DXY dollar index was last down 0.1% to 104.406, having reached a three-week high of 104.683 on Wednesday.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury was recently up three basis points to 4.366%.
• U.S. stock futures slipped a touch, while in Europe the Stoxx Europe 600 declined 1% in morning trading, the FTSE 100 lost 0.7%, the CAC 40 fell 1.1% and Germany's DAX dropped 1.5%.
• In commodities, Brent crude fell 0.2% to $72.90 a barrel, and WTI crude fell 0.2% to $69.49 a barrel. The European benchmark price for natural gas, the Dutch futures contract TTF, was up 0.1% to 40.92 euros a megawatt hour.

Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com

Richard Teng, the CEO of Binance, recently reaffirmed the company’s commitment to transparency, security and compliance, but his timing has raised eyebrows as the statement collides with growing speculation that the black-and-yellow crypto behemoth played a role in an attack on Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange that many believe threatens the dominance of centralized platforms like Binance itself. 

The irony of Teng’s words is not lost on the crypto community, as Binance finds itself at the center of yet another controversy.

The series of events fueling these suspicions is alarming and intricate. An unidentified attacker initiated a calculated strategy involving shorting JELLY futures while purchasing the meme coin on-chain at the same time, artificially inflating its price. 

This was followed by an intentional self-liquidation, forcing Hyperliquid’s liquidity provider to absorb a $4.5 million loss. 

As the price of JELLY continued to climb due to spot purchases, a second wallet took a long position, reaping significant profits, while Hyperliquid struggled to contain its exposure. The exchange ultimately suffered more than $10 million in losses.

Binance and Hyperliquid drama

The controversy, however, lies in the origin of the attack funds. Blockchain analysis traced the capital used to execute the operation back to OKX and Binance, fueling speculation that centralized exchanges orchestrated the attack to destabilize Hyperliquid. This theory gained traction when both exchanges announced the listing of JELLY perpetual futures right during the attack.

Thus, Teng’s words about transparency and compliance now sit uncomfortably in the midst of this situation.

It is worth pointing out that Hyperliquid responded by delisting JELLY and activating its Auto-Deleveraging (ADL) mechanism, which forcibly closed all positions at a fixed price of $0.0095. Some users accused the platform of unfairly determining this settlement price.

The disappointing technical rejection that XRP just experienced could postpone or even halt its trajectory toward a $3 breakout. The 26-day EMA is a critical resistance level that has now strengthened bears' short-term control, and despite recent sessions' indications of bullish momentum, the asset was unable to break above it. 

XRP is currently trading at about $2.36. It has tried to rise above the descending trendline that has capped its movement since January, but the short-term bearish setup has been created by the rejection near the $2.42 level, which coincides with the 26 EMA. This failure is especially detrimental because XRP is still below the 50-day EMA, indicating that there has not been a confirmed reversal and that investor confidence in a long-term uptrend is waning.  Chart by TradingView">

Unfortunately, trading volume has been low during the attempted breakout, indicating that there was insufficient market activity to support a significant spike. Bulls find it more difficult to maintain upward movements as a result of this lack of conviction, which also increases bearish pressure. 

XRP is currently trapped in a narrowing range, as seen from the chart between the horizontal support and descending resistance around $2.20-$2.30. A zone that might serve as the last line of defense before a steeper decline in the 200-day moving average (about $1.93) is the next reasonable target if this support breaks.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI), which is positioned close to 50, indicates market indecision but is leaning slightly bearish due to the failure at important EMAs and the decline in volume. Although XRP is still technically trading inside the larger descending triangle, the $3 scenario is becoming less and less likely in the near future due to the inability to take advantage of bullish setups and break above dynamic resistance levels. 

Now bulls need to reorganize to protect the $2.20 level and hold off on pushing again until there is more volume and momentum. As of right now, XRP's recovery path has become more difficult, as the worst-case technical scenario has occurred.

A South Korean court temporarily lifted the partial business suspension on crypto exchange Upbit that had prohibited the trading platform from servicing new clients for three months. 

On Feb. 25, South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) sanctioned the exchange, imposing a three-month ban on deposits and withdrawals for new clients. The FIU previously said the suspension was in response to Upbit’s violations of policies that prohibit exchanges from transacting with unregistered virtual asset service providers (VASPs). 

In response to the FIU’s sanction, Upbit’s parent company, Dunamu, filed a lawsuit against the FIU, seeking to overturn the partial suspension order. In addition, Dunamu requested an injunction to temporarily lift the suspension order. 

On March 27, local media Newsis reported that the court granted the injunction, moving the suspension order 30 days after a court judgment is reached. This allows Upbit to service new clients while the legal battle continues. 

Upbit investigations led to a 3-month suspension order

Founded in 2017, Upbit is South Korea’s largest crypto exchange. On Oct. 10, the country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) initiated an investigation into Upbit for potential breaches of the country’s anti-monopoly laws. 

In addition to anti-monopoly breaches, the exchange is suspected of violating Know Your Customer (KYC) rules. On Nov. 15, the FIU identified up at least 500,000 to 600,000 potential KYC violations of the exchange. The regulator spotted alleged breaches while reviewing the exchange’s business license renewal. 

In 2018, South Korean regulators ended anonymous crypto trading for its citizens. With the new development, users must pass KYC procedures before being allowed to trade digital assets on crypto trading platforms like Upbit. 

Apart from these allegations, the FIU accused Upbit of facilitating 45,000 transactions with unregistered foreign crypto exchanges. This violates the country’s Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information.

South Korea cracks down on overseas exchanges

On Oct. 25, 2024, South Korea strengthened its oversight of cross-border crypto asset transactions. The country’s finance minister, Choi Sang-Mok, said the government will introduce a reporting mandate for businesses that handle cross-border transactions with digital assets.

This aims to promote preemptive monitoring of crypto transactions “used for tax evasion and currency manipulation.”

In line with the rules, South Korea’s Google Play blocked the applications of 17 crypto exchanges at the request of the FIU. The FIU said it’s also working to restrict exchange access using the internet and Apple’s App Store. 

Sui Network’s native token, SUI, has reclaimed a crucial level after its 10% price breakout. The token has shown bullish momentum over the past few days, climbing to weekly highs on Wednesday. Various market watchers suggested the momentum could send the cryptocurrency to new highs in Q2.

SUI Reclaims Key Breakout Level

Today, SUI, one of the cycle’s leading tokens, retested the $2.60 resistance for the first time in nearly three weeks after reclaiming a key support zone on Tuesday. The cryptocurrency has lost several crucial levels during the Q1 2025 retraces, falling over 50% from its January all-time high (ATH) to a four-month low of $1.96.

However, it has regained momentum amid institutional adoption, including its partnership with World Liberty Financial (WLFI), US President Donald Trump’s crypto venture, and Canary Capital’s recent filing of a Form S-1 for an SUI spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The cryptocurrency moved toward the $2.45 mark in the following days, suggesting that holding this level could send SUI to the next crucial barrier. After pulling back to $2.20, the token’s momentum resumed on Saturday, rising 13% in the past week after printing five consecutive green candles.

Amid its performance, some analysts noted that SUI reclaimed the key $2.40 support, which served as a significant resistance during the post-US elections breakout and a bounce zone during the February retraces.

Analyst Michäel van de Poppe suggested that the token is “one to keep an eye on,” highlighting that the “tremendous” retest of the high timeframe support “indicates that we’re likely going to expand to the upside from here.”

Is It Ready For New Highs?

In the past 24 hours, SUI surged 10% to the $2.60 resistance, hitting a 20-day high of $2.65 on Wednesday before retracing. As various market watchers pointed out, this price action has seen the token break out of a multi-month falling wedge pattern.

A retest and confirmation of the breakout level could propel the token to attempt to reclaim its two-month downtrend. Analyst Sjuul from AltCryptoGems considers that the cryptocurrency should be “ready to go” to the $2.80 mark, based on its “bullish market structure and nice strength.”

Previously, Ali Martinez suggested that after reclaiming the $2.45 level, SUI would be poised for a 15% move to this area.

Moreover, the token could also surge toward a new high if history repeats itself. Since 2023, SUI has broken out of a multi-month falling wedge twice, in October 2023 and August 2024, which propelled the cryptocurrency to new ATHs in the coming months.

Meanwhile, trader Crypto Bullet noted that the cryptocurrency has recently reclaimed the 365-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) after trading below it over the past few weeks. According to the trader, holding this level as support could impulse the token’s rally toward its January high of $5.37.

As of this writing, SUI trades at $2.58, a 5.5% increase in the daily timeframe.