Crypto Market in Turmoil as Exchanges Face Scrutiny Amid Trump’s Tariff Shock

The cryptocurrency market faced extreme volatility in the past 24 hours, with a record $20 billion in liquidations triggering widespread concern. Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek called on regulators to investigate exchange practices during the crash, raising questions about potential pricing errors, transaction delays, and manipulation prevention measures. Data from CoinGlass showed Hyperliquid suffered the largest losses, wiping out $10.31 billion in positions, followed by Bybit with $4.65 billion and Binance with $2.41 billion. Other major exchanges, including OKX, HTX, and Gate.io, also reported significant losses. Binance acknowledged that price discrepancies involving Ethena’s USDe, BNSOL, and WBETH tokens caused forced liquidations for some users. The exchange said it is reviewing affected accounts and will issue compensation where platform errors are confirmed. Co-founder Yi He publicly apologized, promising reimbursements for technical mistakes but clarifying that market-driven losses will not be covered. The crash was intensified by U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 100% tariff on all Chinese imports starting November 1, in retaliation for China’s decision to restrict exports of rare earth elements. Analyst Quinten François noted that this sell-off surpassed all previous liquidation events, far exceeding the figures seen during the COVID-19 crash and the FTX collapse.