Major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP saw a sudden surge alongside stocks Monday morning, amid purported word from a White House advisor that President Trump was considering a 90-day pause on global tariffs that have rocked the markets in recent days.
But it turned out to be “fake news,” as the White House told CNBC soon after—and now those gains are evaporating.
Bitcoin is currently trading for for $78,565, showing a 5% drop over the last day. The largest cryptocurrency was trading for below $76,000 earlier Monday ahead of the spike, which then drove the price of BTC to $80,818 in a matter of just 35 minutes, per data from CoinGecko.
Ethereum popped from $1,486 to $1,608 amid the spike, but has settled to $1,555 as of this writing. XRP similarly vaulted from $1.76 to $1.97, but is now down to $1.88.
The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq stock indices all hopped into positive territory after starting the day with sizable losses. But the spike was short-lived, and now all three are back in the red.
What happened? It appears that news agency Reuters mischaracterized comments from a Fox News interview with White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett (as aggregated here)—and major X social media accounts boasting hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers quickly amplified the false report.
“Wall Street’s main indexes reversed course and moved sharply higher after White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said in an interview that President Donald Trump was considering a 90-day tariff pause on all countries expect China,” Reuters wrote.
“HASSETT: TRUMP IS CONSIDERING A 90-DAY PAUSE IN TARIFFS FOR ALL COUNTRIES EXCEPT CHINA,” wrote Walter Bloomberg in a since-deleted tweet. At nearly the same moment, Zerohedge posted the exact same message. The two accounts collectively boast nearly 3 million followers. Walter Bloomberg later said the headline came from Reuters.
However, Reuters separately pointed the finger at CNBC—and Walter Bloomberg shared an image of a terminal headline that credited CNBC for the false report.
Markets surged on the purported news—but it was quickly debunked. The Fox News clip in question does not show Hassett making such a claim, and soon after, the White House said that the report was “fake news.”
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