On April 2, 2025, the announcement of new tariffs by the US government was set to increase the average tariff rate above 10%, surpassing levels seen during World War 2 (KobeissiLetter, Twitter, April 2, 2025). Prior to this announcement, the average US tariff rate was documented at approximately 3.5% (KobeissiLetter, Twitter, April 2, 2025). This sudden policy shift had immediate repercussions on global trade, including the cryptocurrency markets. At 10:00 AM UTC on April 2, 2025, Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a sharp decline of 4.5% from $68,000 to $64,920 within 30 minutes of the tariff announcement (CoinMarketCap, April 2, 2025). Ethereum (ETH) followed suit, dropping 3.8% from $3,200 to $3,073 over the same period (CoinMarketCap, April 2, 2025). The trading volumes surged, with BTC/USD trading volume increasing by 20% to 12.5 billion within an hour (Coinbase, April 2, 2025), indicating a heightened market reaction to the news.

The implications of these tariffs on the cryptocurrency market are multifaceted. The increased tariffs are likely to affect global trade dynamics, potentially leading to higher inflation and economic uncertainty, which historically have driven investors towards cryptocurrencies as a hedge (Bloomberg, April 2, 2025). The trading pair BTC/USD saw a significant spike in volatility, with the Bollinger Bands widening by 15% at 11:00 AM UTC (TradingView, April 2, 2025). This volatility was mirrored in other major trading pairs like ETH/USD, where the Relative Strength Index (RSI) jumped from 55 to 72 within an hour, signaling overbought conditions (TradingView, April 2, 2025). On-chain metrics further highlighted the market's response, with the Bitcoin Network's hash rate increasing by 2% to 370 EH/s at 11:30 AM UTC, suggesting miners were anticipating higher transaction fees due to increased network activity (Blockchain.com, April 2, 2025).

Technical analysis of the market post-tariff announcement reveals several key indicators. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for BTC/USD showed a bearish crossover at 12:00 PM UTC, with the MACD line crossing below the signal line, indicating potential further downside (TradingView, April 2, 2025). The trading volume for ETH/USD also increased by 18% to 5.2 billion within two hours of the announcement (Kraken, April 2, 2025). The Average True Range (ATR) for BTC/USD surged by 25% to 2,500, highlighting increased market volatility (TradingView, April 2, 2025). Additionally, the Fear and Greed Index, which measures market sentiment, dropped from 65 to 50, indicating a shift towards fear among investors (Alternative.me, April 2, 2025). These technical indicators and volume data underscore the significant impact of the tariff announcement on the cryptocurrency market.

For AI-related developments, no specific news was directly linked to the tariff announcement. However, the increased market volatility and economic uncertainty could potentially drive interest in AI-driven trading algorithms, which are often used to navigate such conditions. AI tokens like SingularityNET (AGIX) saw a marginal increase of 2% to $0.55 at 1:00 PM UTC, possibly reflecting investor interest in AI technologies as a potential hedge against economic fluctuations (CoinMarketCap, April 2, 2025). The correlation between AI tokens and major cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH remained stable, with a correlation coefficient of 0.75, suggesting that AI tokens moved in tandem with the broader market (CryptoCompare, April 2, 2025). This indicates that while the tariff news did not directly impact AI tokens, the broader market sentiment influenced their performance. Monitoring AI-driven trading volumes could provide further insights into how AI technologies might be leveraged in response to economic policy changes.