Crypto traders betting on a steady bitcoin BTC rally got a sharp reminder of headline risk from Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats.

Over $300 million worth of leveraged derivatives positions were liquidated across centralized exchanges in the past four hours, according to CoinGlass data, as crypto prices plunged following the news.

Nearly all liquidations came from long positions—traders betting on higher prices. BTC longs accounted for $107 million of the total, while Ethereum’s ether ETH followed with close to $87 million. Other tokens, including Solana’s SOL SOL, dogecoin DOGE, and SUI SUI saw liquidations ranging between $10 million and $18 million.

«Nice aggregate flush of long leverage and de-risk selling from spot,» well-followed crypto trader Skew noted in an X post early Friday. «All driven by headlines once again.»

The sell-off came after Trump proposed a 50% tariff on imports from the European Union starting next month, along with a 25% tariff on iPhones manufactured outside the U.S., reigniting fears of an escalating trade war.

As a result, BTC and major altcoins such as Ether ETH, XRP XRP, and Cardano ADA fell 3% to 4%, while smaller-cap tokens like Uniswap UNI and SUI SUI dropped 5% to 7% over the past 24 hours.

Crypto trader named James Wynn, who gained attention recently opening a $1.1 billion BTC long bet with 40x leverage on the Hyperliquid exchange, also slipped underwater on the massive position. Currently, the trader is sitting on $7.5 million of unrealized losses, and the position could be liquidated if BTC slips to $102,000, according to a screenshot shared on X.

Interestingly, the long liquidations came amid a recent unusual tilt toward short positions in BTC derivatives despite record prices, CoinDesk reported on Thursday.

Read more: Why Are Bitcoin Traders Aggressively Shorting as BTC Hits New Record High?

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.

The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 3239.11, down 3.2% (-107.44) since 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.

None of the 20 assets are trading higher.

Leaders: SOL (-1.1%) and BCH (-1.8%).
Laggards: SUI (-6.8%) and NEAR (-5.8%).

The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.

Medical equipment company Semler Scientific (SMLR) announced its third-largest bitcoin BTC purchase since adopting a bitcoin standard roughly one year ago.

The company in the ten days ending May 22 acquired 455 BTC for $50 million, averaging $109,801 per bitcoin. This acquisition, funded through its at-the-market (ATM) equity offering program, brings Semler’s total holdings to 4,264 BTC, purchased for $390 million and currently valued at more than $450 million.

To date, the company has issued 3,003,488 shares under its April 15 $500 million ATM program, raising $114.8 million.

Now roundly used as a key performance indicator by most companies adding bitcoin to their balance sheet, Semler’s BTC Yield, has risen to 25.8% in 2025. BTC Yield measures the year-to-date percentage change in the ratio of total bitcoin holdings to assumed diluted shares outstanding.

SMLR shares are lower by 5.3% in premarket trading alongside a sizable decline in the price of bitcoin Friday morning to $108,300.