Risk assets such as bitcoin (BTC), xrp (XRP), solana (SOL) are back in focus as President Donald Trump warned of even more reciprocal tariffs if other countries collude to do «economic harm» to the U.S.

«If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA,» he wrote in a Truth Social post in early Asian hours Thursday, «large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!»

«Liberation day in America is coming, soon,» Trump wrote in a separate post. «For years we have been ripped off by virtually every country in the world, both friend and foe. But those days are over — America first!!!»

The post comes days after reports that concerns of tariffs were overblown, and that overall impact would be more measured than expected.

Earlier this month, Trump had imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, alongside a 20% levy on Chinese goods, citing national security concerns over immigration and fentanyl trafficking. Now, with the EU and Canada in his crosshairs, markets could be bracing for another jolt.

Tariffs, by their nature, disrupt economic stability — increasing costs for imported goods, stoking inflation, and pressuring central banks like the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy.

Such moves could spell trouble for BTC and other tokens in the short term, as the crypto market often moves in tandem with equities, which tend to falter under trade uncertainty. A stronger U.S. dollar, bolstered by tariff-driven capital flows, might further depress BTC prices, as investors flee to safe havens like gold or cash.

Trump’s post dampened a bullish mood in Asian hours, with majors showing a brief sell-off. XRP and SOL fell 2%, ether (ETH) and BNB Chain’s BNB remained little-changed, while dogecoin (DOGE) retracted gains from a 3.5% move higher in the past 24 hours.

SUI shines, analysts remain bullish

Outside of the top ten tokens by market cap, Sui Network’s SUI posted a 7% surge ahead of the Walrus Network, a data availability protocol built on Sui, going live on mainnet later Thursday.

Meanwhile, some say Asian developments could provide a catalyst for bitcoin prices amid U.S. focused headwinds.

«While US regulators begin to cut back on restrictive policies, institutions in Asia have been making waves by releasing new funds, products, and innovations that have been supported by pro-crypto regulations in key jurisdictions,» Jupiter Zheng, partner at HashKey Capital, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.

«The next leg of the bull market may find its footing in Asia as the center for growth in the industry,» Zheng added.

BTSE’s Jeff Mei had a more optimistic view as of Thursday morning.

«Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have recovered over the last few days, even as stock markets dropped in response to US President Trump’s announcement of auto tariffs. This shows that the worst could be over for crypto markets this year, and that we could see an upward trajectory in prices as US inflation fears subside and as we move closer towards rate cuts,» Mei said in a Telegram message.

Traders are eyeing the release of upcoming Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) data on March 28, which influences Fed interest rate decisions.

President Donald Trump has threatened bigger import tariffs against the European Union (EU) and Canada if they worked together «to do economic harm» to the U.S.

«If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!” Trump said in a late Wednesday night post on Truth Social.

Financial markets, however, remain steady in the wake of the new threat, with BTC in stasis below $88,000. Germany’s DAX futures fell 0.3% while their Wall Street counterparts traded flat to positive.

The resilience in the market likely stems from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s recent indication that the inflationary pressures resulting from tariffs could be transitory.

BlackRock is looking to add more people to its digital asset team as the industry grows in popularity among Wall Street firms.

Since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, big names in finance have taken several steps to expand their presence in crypto. While BlackRock has long been a pioneer in the space, especially among traditional financial banks, the asset manager seems to have more in store.

Four roles on BlackRock’s digital asset team were added to its website on Wednesday, including Director of Digital Assets, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Vice President for Digital Asset and ETF Legal Counsel and Associate for Digital Asset.

According to the job description, three of the roles are based in New York and another one in Atlanta. The descriptions have otherwise been kept fairly broad and don’t give away any clues regarding what BlackRock might be looking to work on in the future.

For the role of the legal counsel, the company is seeking somebody who can help with future crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) launches. BlackRock has so far issued two spot ETF products, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHE).

Other issuers have applied to launch funds for several other crypto assets, including Solana (SOL), XRP, and Litecoin (LTC). BlackRock has not announced any plans to do the same.

The asset manager is also strongly focused on tokenization, a sector in which it has quickly become a leading force.

The firm’s tokenized money market fund, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), has drawn in $1.7 billion since its introduction in 2023, making it by far the largest tokenized fund on the market currently.