Bitcoin, stocks crumble after ‘90 day tariff pause’ deemed fake news — BTC whales keep accumulating

Global financial markets continued to tumble on April 7, as US equities dropped more than 3%, wiping more than $2 trillion in value on market open. The pullback saw the S&P 500 drop 2.79%, with the index officially entering a bear market, following a 20% decline from its recent all-time highs.

However, the SPX momentarily rallied by 6% after a rumor began to spread on X that US President Donald Trump was contemplating a 90-day tariff pause. Bitcoin (BTC) price also rallied above $80,000, but after 30 minutes of positive price action, the White House confirmed that the rumor was not true.

The S&P 500 is currently in positive territory for the day. Still, despite this uptick, the sustainability of the recovery remains uncertain as bearish undercurrents remain the same as before the tariff-pause rumor started to circulate.

In Asia trading sessions, where economies heavily depend on favorable global trade, stock markets plummeted. Hong Kong’s equity index suffered a staggering 13% drop, marking its worst performance since the Asian financial crisis. Major indexes in Shanghai, Taipei, and Tokyo also saw sharp declines, ranging from 7% to 10%.

In fact, the Nikkei 22 futures suspended trading after it hit circuit breakers during its session.

Tensions continued to escalate between the US and China after President Trump confirmed an additional 50% tariff on Chinese exports on April 9 if the country did not withdraw its initial 34% tariffs on the US by April 8.

Related: Bitcoin price retakes $80K as US stocks avoid ‘Black Monday’ meltdown

Bitcoin hits yearly lows, but BTC whales are accumulating

After initially demonstrating a decoupling from the US indexes on April 3 and April 4, Bitcoin price dipped 6.5% over the weekend and dropped to new yearly lows at $74,457 on April 7. This is Bitcoin’s lowest price since Nov. 7, with speculators expecting further drawdowns in the charts. Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, said,

“Don’t catch the falling knife. Conditions have not improved for Bitcoin yet. Only one bull signal is on in the Bull Score Index.”

On a positive note, Glassnode data revealed that BTC whales (holding over 10,000 BTC) are intensifying accumulation while smaller holders continue to distribute. The Accumulation Trend Score for whales briefly hit a perfect 1.0 around April 1, reflecting a 15-day buying spree—the most significant since late August 2024.

Since March 11, whales have added 129,000 BTC, scoring at 0.65, indicating steady accumulation. Meanwhile, cohorts holding less than 1 BTC to 100 BTC have shifted to distribution, with scores dropping to 0.1–0.2 for most of 2025.

This trend aligns with Bitcoin finding support at $74,000, a level backed by over 50,000 BTC held by investors dormant since March 10.

Meanwhile, Axel Adler Jr., a Bitcoin researcher, also pointed out that the supply dynamics metric indicates that the new Bitcoin supply is currently outpacing the annual change in active coins. A positive uptick indicates growing demand or accumulation in the market, and historically, such increases in this metric have coincided with Bitcoin price recoveries.

Related: Was Bitcoin price drop to $75K the bottom? — Data suggests BTC to stocks decoupling will continue

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.