Bitcoin Plunges Below US$65,000 After Trump Raises Global Import Tariffs to 15 Per Cent

Jakarta, VIVA – The price of Bitcoin plunged more than 5 per cent, breaching the US$65,000 level at the opening of Asian trading on Monday, 23 February 2026. The sell-off followed United States President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would raise global import tariffs to 15 per cent.

The world’s most expensive crypto asset was trading at US$64,642.29, or approximately Rp1.08 billion (estimated at an exchange rate of Rp16,840 per US dollar), after recording a sharp correction of 5.07 per cent in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. Over the past seven days, Bitcoin has posted a decline of 6.00 per cent.

The weakness extended a correction already visible during weekend trading. Bitcoin had been trading around the US$67,000 mark, or Rp1.12 billion per coin, and even briefly rose around 0.5 per cent, but the gain was short-lived.

Trump announced the plan to raise global import tariffs via his Truth Social platform. He initially announced a 10 per cent global tariff before subsequently increasing it to 15 per cent.

The move came shortly after the US Supreme Court ruled that Trump did not have the authority to impose tariffs as he had done earlier this year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Trump described the Supreme Court ruling, which struck down part of his earlier tariff policy, as an anti-American decision.

“In the coming months, the Trump Administration will set and announce new tariffs that are legally sound,” Trump wrote, as reported by CoinDesk on Monday, 23 February 2026.

According to CNBC International, the pressure on Bitcoin occurred whilst benchmark indices on Asian stock exchanges were actually moving into positive territory at the start of Monday’s trading. This divergence underscores the fact that crypto assets remain highly sensitive to global policy sentiment, particularly regarding trade and geopolitics.

Bitcoin was not alone in its decline. Ethereum also fell approximately 0.45 per cent to the US$1,980 level following the tariff announcement. XRP likewise dropped sharply, sliding 6.45 per cent to US$1.33.

Amid the decline in crypto asset prices, on-chain data suggest that the worst phase of panic has likely passed, although structural pressure has not entirely dissipated.

Data from Glassnode show that the average seven-day profit and loss of short-term holders plummeted to minus US$1.24 billion per day on 6 February 2026.