As U.S. stocks plunged on Monday in one of the worst selloffs of the year, the cryptocurrency market staged a notable rally, with Bitcoin (BTC) touching an intraday high of $88,527. The broader crypto market added $75 billion in value, growing 1.77% to reach $2.73 trillion by the end of trading.
Meanwhile, Wall Street saw a staggering $1.5 trillion in equity value erased, driven by continued fallout from President Trump’s trade policies and investor fears over central bank instability.
📉 Wall Street Melts Down
The sharp selloff across major U.S. indices was fueled by:
- Uncertainty around Federal Reserve leadership, following Trump’s escalating feud with Jerome Powell
- Rising tariffs and global trade tensions
- Weakening investor sentiment in tech and industrials
Key market performance on April 21:
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: -972 points
- S&P 500: -125 points
- Nasdaq Composite: -416 points
This single-session decline ranks among the largest point drops of the past year, signaling heightened market volatility as Trump’s economic policies face increased scrutiny.
🚀 Crypto Surges as Risk Narrative Shifts
While equities crumbled, Bitcoin rose 2.61%, settling at $87,262 by 5 p.m. ET after briefly nearing $90,000. Alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) led the charge:
Top Gainers:
- Convex Finance (CVX): +21.04%
- Stacks (STX): +12.98%
- Telcoin (TEL): +11.57%
- Reserve Rights (RSR): +10.07%
- FARTCOIN: +8.52%
- KAS, MANA, CKB, POL: Gained between 4.53% and 7.80%
Top Decliners:
- MANTRA (OM): -6.62% (despite token burn news)
- DEXE: -5.44%
- CHEEMS: -4.12%
- PYTH, THETA: -3.5% to -3.6%
The rise in digital assets underlines a growing investor appetite for decentralized hedges, particularly in periods of fiat and institutional volatility.
“As traditional finance stumbles, crypto offers a parallel flight to safety—albeit with different rules,” said a senior trader at a Hong Kong digital asset fund.
🪙 Gold Shines, Silver Lags
Traditional safe-haven assets also benefited from the risk-off sentiment:
- Gold surged 3.28% to $3,425 per ounce, cementing a 12% monthly gain
- Silver rose 0.57% on the day but remains down 2.67% over the past month
Gold’s rise further confirms the broad investor shift toward inflation-hedging and policy-resistant assets.
⚖️ Trump’s Trade Wars and Market Reaction
The day’s financial upheaval underscores the market’s fragile reaction to escalating U.S.-China tariff tensions, uncertainty over Federal Reserve leadership, and concerns around policy credibility. With $1.5 trillion wiped from equities, the ripple effect is expected to continue impacting global sentiment throughout the week.
“Crypto and gold are now the twin pillars of investor skepticism,” one market strategist noted.
