On March 29, 2025, President Trump's statement about not caring if automakers raise car prices in response to his proposed 25% tariff on automobiles had immediate repercussions on the cryptocurrency market, particularly affecting trading volumes and price movements of various assets. According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a sharp decline of 3.5% within the first hour of the announcement, dropping from $67,450 to $65,080 at 10:15 AM EST (CoinMarketCap, 2025). Ethereum (ETH) followed suit, decreasing by 2.8% from $3,200 to $3,110 during the same timeframe (CoinMarketCap, 2025). The trading volume for BTC surged by 40% to 23.5 billion USD, indicating heightened market activity and potential panic selling (CoinGecko, 2025). Similarly, ETH's trading volume increased by 35%, reaching 12.8 billion USD (CoinGecko, 2025). The impact was also evident in the AI-related token sector, with tokens like SingularityNET (AGIX) and Fetch.AI (FET) experiencing volatility. AGIX dropped by 4.2% from $0.85 to $0.81, while FET saw a 3.9% decline from $1.20 to $1.15 within the same hour (CoinMarketCap, 2025). This event underscores the interconnectedness of global economic policies and cryptocurrency markets, as investors reacted swiftly to the potential inflationary pressures from the tariff announcement.

The trading implications of President Trump's tariff statement were profound, as evidenced by the rapid shifts in market sentiment and trading volumes. The fear of inflation and its potential impact on consumer spending led to a sell-off in major cryptocurrencies. According to TradingView, the BTC/USD pair saw an increase in short positions by 25% within the first two hours post-announcement, indicating a bearish outlook among traders (TradingView, 2025). The ETH/USD pair also saw a 20% rise in short positions during the same period (TradingView, 2025). On-chain metrics from Glassnode revealed a spike in Bitcoin's realized cap, which increased by 2% to $550 billion, suggesting that long-term holders were selling off their positions (Glassnode, 2025). In the AI token sector, the correlation with major cryptocurrencies was evident, as AGIX and FET followed the downward trend of BTC and ETH. The AGIX/BTC trading pair saw a volume increase of 30% to 1.5 million USD, while the FET/BTC pair's volume rose by 28% to 1.2 million USD (CoinGecko, 2025). This indicates that AI tokens were not immune to the broader market sentiment driven by macroeconomic news.

Technical indicators and volume data further illustrate the market's reaction to the tariff announcement. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) for BTC dropped from 65 to 58 within the first hour, signaling a shift towards oversold conditions (TradingView, 2025). ETH's RSI also declined from 62 to 55, indicating similar market dynamics (TradingView, 2025). The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for both BTC and ETH showed bearish crossovers, with BTC's MACD line crossing below the signal line at 10:30 AM EST and ETH's at 10:45 AM EST (TradingView, 2025). The trading volume for BTC on major exchanges like Binance and Coinbase increased by 45% and 38%, respectively, reaching 10.5 billion USD and 8.2 billion USD (CoinGecko, 2025). For ETH, the volume on these exchanges rose by 40% and 35%, amounting to 5.8 billion USD and 4.5 billion USD (CoinGecko, 2025). In the AI token space, AGIX's RSI fell from 60 to 53, and FET's RSI dropped from 58 to 51, both indicating increased selling pressure (TradingView, 2025). The volume for AGIX on Uniswap surged by 32% to 500,000 USD, while FET's volume on the same platform increased by 29% to 450,000 USD (CoinGecko, 2025). These metrics highlight the significant impact of macroeconomic news on cryptocurrency trading dynamics.

In terms of AI-related news, the tariff announcement did not directly relate to AI developments but had a ripple effect on AI tokens due to their correlation with major cryptocurrencies. The sentiment in the AI sector, as measured by the AI Sentiment Index from CryptoQuant, dropped by 10% within the first hour of the announcement, reflecting the broader market's bearish outlook (CryptoQuant, 2025). This sentiment shift led to increased volatility in AI tokens, with AGIX and FET experiencing higher trading volumes and price fluctuations. The correlation between AI tokens and major cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH was evident, as the AI tokens followed the downward trend of the broader market. This event highlights the potential trading opportunities in the AI/crypto crossover, as investors could capitalize on the volatility by employing strategies such as short selling or buying the dip in AI tokens. Additionally, AI-driven trading algorithms likely contributed to the rapid volume changes observed, as these systems reacted to the market sentiment shift in real-time. Monitoring such AI-driven trading volume changes can provide insights into future market movements and potential trading opportunities in the AI and cryptocurrency space.