«Decoupling» and «safe haven» began to be used late last week as bitcoin (BTC) held its own despite the continuing tumble in stock markets in response to President Trump’s sweeping tariffs against U.S. trading partners.

Bitcoin bulls, though, may have spoken too soon.

With stock trading closed for the weekend, fearful investors turned to the 24/7 crypto markets to place bearish bets. In late Sunday afternoon action, bitcoin was trading just above $79,000 down 5% from 24 hours earlier. As stock index futures began trading later Sunday with the Nasdaq 100 opening down 5% and S&P 500 4.5%, bitcoin fell as low as $78,400.

Other majors are faring far worse, among them ether (ETH), lower by 11% to $1,590 and solana (SOL), down 10% to $107.

The term «black monday» is trending on X — a reference to Monday October 19, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly one quarter of its value in one session. Back then, the triggering event was the threat of a currency war by then Secretary of Treasury James Baker.

«If we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate,» tweeted hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who previously had been at least modestly supportive of President Trump. «The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system,» he continued. «Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down.»

The 10-year Treasury yield is down 14 basis points from its Friday close at 3.85%.

Updated (22:05 UTC): Added early stock and bond market trading.

Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management took advantage of the $5.4 trillion U.S. equities market sell-off and purchased over 83,000 shares of Coinbase (COIN), increasing exposure to the crypto exchange even as prices dipped sharply across the board.

The total shares purchased were worth more than $13 million, taking Friday’s closing price for Coinbase.

According to ARK’s daily trading disclosure for April 4, Wood’s flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) bought nearly 55,000 Coinbase shares, with additional purchases coming from the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) and the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF).

The timing is notable. Coinbase shares have slipped more than 12% during the market rout, while bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies showed resilience. The CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index dropped by 5.8% in the same period. The sell-off came after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his reciprocal tariffs against nearly every country in the world.

Read more: Bitcoin Begins to Decouple From Nasdaq as U.S. Stocks Crumble

Bitcoin just notched its worst first quarter in a decade, falling 11.7% as markets struggled to understand the new administration’s economic agenda.

The performance ranked 12th out of the past 15 first quarters, according to NYDIG Research’s data.

The drawdown invites a familiar question in crypto circles: is the cycle over? The last time bitcoin started the year this poorly was in 2015, during a prolonged slump following the 2013 peak and after the collapse of Mt. Gox, according to NYDIG. Back then, prices recovered modestly over the rest of the year before surging in 2016.

In the first quarter of 2020, amid a market sell-off tied to fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, BTC saw a 9.4% drawdown but then recovered to end the year up over 300%. In other years with negative Q1 returns—like 2014, 2018 and 2022—bitcoin ended the year down sharply, coinciding with the tail ends of previous bull cycles, the research note said.

This time around, the backdrop is murky. Cryptocurrency prices surged after Donald Trump won the U.S. election in November after running a pro-crypto campaign. While under the Trump administration, the sector has been gaining greater regulatory clarity, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) backed off a number of lawsuits against crypto firms, it isn’t all bullish.

Trump unveiled his reciprocal tariffs against nearly every country in the world last week, leading to a massive $5.4 trillion U.S. equities market wipeout in just two days. This led to the S&P 500 index’s lowest level in 11 months and the Nasdaq 100’s entry into bear market territory. While bitcoin has outperformed so far, what will happen after Monday’s opening bell is unclear.

Historically, a weak Q1 doesn’t always spell doom for BTC, NYDIG’s data shows. The asset has bounced back in half of the years when it started in the red. The recent macroeconomic backdrop has seen analysts raise recession odds, which could test BTC’s role as a “U.S. isolation hedge.”
Read more: Chart of The Week: Will April Bring Good Luck or Fool’s Hope for Bitcoin?