Crypto Market Erases All Gains as Canada, Mexico Tariffs Officially Kick In

Key Takeaways

• The crypto market erased its $350 billion gain from Sunday following new U.S. tariff announcements.
• Leverage traders lost over $1 billion, with long positions suffering the most.
• Global trade tensions are now seen as a greater bearish threat than China’s AI war.

The crypto market saw a brutal reversal on Monday, March 3, wiping out the $350 billion surge triggered by Donald Trump’s announcement of a U.S. crypto reserve .

Within 24 hours, markets swung from one of the biggest single-day rallies in crypto history to the second-worst sell-off of 2025.

Trump’s Tariffs Spark Another Market Rout

President Trump’s latest round of tariffs set off the Monday market bloodbath, adding to a growing pattern of trade policy shocks since February.

The administration officially reinstated tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada while introducing new agricultural duties.

The move rattled financial markets, sending stocks and crypto assets tumbling despite the previous day’s bullish momentum.

Sunday’s crypto rally, fueled by Trump’s announcement of a U.S. strategic crypto reserve, briefly pushed the total market cap from $2.7 trillion to over $3.1 trillion.

Just a day later, the market plunged below $2.6 trillion, erasing most of its recent gains.

Cardano (ADA) price performance. Source: TradingView.

A Bank of America survey underscored the growing market fear over trade policies, with 42% of respondents citing a global trade war as the biggest risk for 2025—up from 30% in January.

The latest tariff escalation overshadowed even the $100 billion investment by Chinese chipmaker TSMC , reinforcing the shift toward a risk-off environment.

Crypto Market Sees Another Billion-Dollar Liquidation

The volatility wiped out over $1 billion in leveraged positions, as traders betting on a post-announcement rally were caught off guard.

According to Coinglass , 315,008 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with total losses amounting to $1.09 billion. The largest single liquidation order, worth $13.4 million, occurred on Bitfinex.

Crypto liquidation reaches over $1 billion. Source: Coinglass.

Long positions bore the brunt of the liquidation wave, with $935 million in longs wiped out.

The sell-off mirrored a broader risk-off shift in global markets, as trade tensions and economic policy uncertainty weighed on risk assets.

Even the tech sector took a hit— Nvidia (NVDA)  fell below its post-DeepSeek low from Feb. 3, while Tesla (TSLA) continued its downward spiral, erasing billions in market value.