Bitcoin Price Falls Below $82,000, Crypto Stocks Slide After Tariff Plans

By Vicky Ge HuangBitcoin sank Thursday as investors continued to flee riskier assets after President Trump ratcheted up the trade war.The largest cryptocurrency recently traded around $82,000, down more than 4% from 24 hours ago, according to CoinDesk.The token had climbed toward $88,000 ahead of President Trump's announcement before erasing gains.Smaller cryptocurrencies were hit harder, with ether and the Ripple-linked XRP token down more than 5%.Crypto stocks fell sharply. Shares of crypto exchange Coinbase Global fell 10%, while bitcoin-buying software company MicroStrategy was down 8%.Bitcoin had a blistering rally in the weeks after the election victory of President Trump, who has embraced crypto and vowed to make the U.S. the "undisputed bitcoin superpower."However, the trade war, fears of slowing growth and signs of sticky inflation weighed on the digital currency. Bitcoin posted its worst first-quarter performance since the first three months of 2018, according to Dow Jones Market Data.This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).