Bitcoin Flashes ‘Death Cross’ Amid Tariff-Induced Market Turmoil – Is Further Decline Inevitable?

The global equity and cryptocurrency markets experienced significant downturns earlier today, as US President Donald Trump’s country-specific reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect on April 9. The leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), has declined by more than 7% in the past 24 hours, and analysts predict further near-term challenges for the digital asset.​

Notably, Trump’s baseline 10% tariffs on all countries went into effect on April 5, while the higher, country-specific reciprocal tariffs are scheduled to commence on April 9. These developments have raised fears of a global recession and widespread job losses.​

The digital assets market has felt the impact of these tariffs, with BTC slipping over 7% in the past 24 hours – from approximately $82,300 on April 6, to a low of around $74,500 earlier today.​

Altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and XRP have experienced even greater declines, tumbling by 17.2%, 16%, and 15.8% respectively over the past 24 hours. Similarly, the total crypto market capitalization has shed almost $130 billion during the same period.​

Commenting on BTC’s price action amid the market turmoil, seasoned crypto analyst Ali Martinez highlighted that there may be more challenges ahead for the leading digital asset, as it has flashed the infamous death cross on the daily chart, indicating the potential for further price pullbacks.​

For the uninitiated, a death cross is a bearish technical signal that appears when the 50-day moving average (MA) drops below the 200-day MA. It often suggests a potential downtrend or increased selling pressure in the market.

Similarly, veteran trader Peter Brandt shared the following chart, showing BTC trading in a symmetrical triangle pattern, with a wedge retest located at $81,024. The trader hinted that BTC may follow a drop to the 50% retracement level of $54,000.​

To elaborate, ​a symmetrical triangle pattern in trading is a chart formation where the price consolidates with converging trend lines connecting a series of lower highs and higher lows, indicating a period of indecision before a potential breakout in either direction. 

Similarly, a wedge retest refers to the price action where, after breaking out from a wedge pattern – a formation with converging trend lines – the price returns to test the breakout level before continuing in the breakout direction. ​

While heightened fears surrounding further price declines in BTC have unsettled investors and traders alike, some risk-seeking investors view this as an opportunity to accumulate more BTC at lower prices.​

For instance, CryptoQuant analyst BorisVest, in a recent analysis, emphasized that if BTC falls between $65,000 to $71,000, it could offer a favorable buying opportunity for investors with a decent risk-reward ratio. At press time, BTC trades at $76,678, down 7.5% in the past 24 hours.​