Glassnode Report: Digital Asset Markets Contract Sharply Amid “Liberation Day” Tariff Uncertainty
President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs triggered a global financial rout last week, with bitcoin plunging to $74,500 and ethereum to $1,380—their lowest since early 2023—according to an April 9 Glassnode report. Researchers Ukuriaoc and Cryptovizart linked the sell-off to tariff-induced liquidity strains and a faltering U.S. dollar, deepening digital assets’ broad-based contraction.
Global financial markets faced steep declines last week following U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, with digital assets absorbing significant losses, according to a report by blockchain analytics firm Glassnode. Researchers UkuriaOC and Cryptovizart noted the tariffs—paired with a weaker U.S. dollar and fiscal tightening—catalyzed a liquidity crunch, driving bitcoin (BTC) to $74,500 and ethereum (ETH) to $1,380, their lowest levels since early 2023.
The report highlighted a near-halt in capital inflows to major digital assets, with bitcoin’s monthly net inflows collapsing from $100 billion to $6 billion. Ethereum fared worse, reversing from $15.5 billion in inflows to a $6 billion outflow. Glassnode tied this to bear fatigue, as loss-taking events diminished during successive price drops, suggesting short-term capitulation may be peaking.
“Loss-taking events across bitcoin and ethereum appear to be reducing in scale with each price leg lower, suggesting investors may be approaching a degree of near-term seller exhaustion,” Glassnode’s executive summary states.
Glassnode researchers detail that bitcoin’s realized capitalization—tracking net capital absorbed—surged 117% to $870 billion since November 2022, far outpacing ethereum’s 32% growth to $244 billion. Analysts emphasized this disparity underscores ethereum’s weaker cycle performance, with its market value-to-realized-value (MVRV) ratio sinking below 1.0 in March, signaling widespread unrealized losses.
Bitcoin’s MVRV remained above 1.0, reflecting comparatively resilient investor profitability. Ethereum’s struggles were further evident in its ratio against bitcoin, which plummeted 75% to 0.0196 since September 2022—the lowest since January 2020. Glassnode called this sustained underperformance “atypical” in bull markets, noting no prolonged ETH outperformance phases occurred in this cycle.
The altcoin sector, Glassnode’s report shows, faced a 40% contraction since December 2024, erasing $417 billion in value. Losses were broad-based, with even bitcoin posting negative three-month returns. Glassnode observed $240 million in bitcoin and $564 million in ethereum losses during peak sell-offs, though the scale has since tapered.
Technical and onchain models identified the $65,000-$71,000 zone as critical for bitcoin. A sustained break below this range—aligning with the Active Realized Price ($71,000) and True Market Mean ($65,000)—could force a “super-majority” of investors underwater, risking sentiment-driven sell-offs. Glassnode stressed that reclaiming $93,000 is essential to restarting upward momentum.