Cryptocurrency prices slid as the spectre of a global trade war put investors on edge and pushed them out of risky assets.
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Bitcoin was down 4 per cent early on Monday morning in Asia, touching a three-week low around US$96,606. Smaller cryptocurrency ether was down around 12 per cent and back to levels last seen in early November.
Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Mexican and most Canadian imports, and 10 per cent on goods from China, starting on Tuesday.
Cryptocurrencies trade around the clock, including at weekends, and have lately been sensitive to markets’ broader sentiment.
Investors think tariffs can hurt growth and company earnings.
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“Crypto is really the only way to express risk over the weekend, and on news like this crypto resorts to a risk proxy,” said Chris Weston, head of research at finance broker Pepperstone.