Crypto’s Biggest Crash Reveals a Market Littered With Pitfalls

For a few manic hours on Friday, the world of digital assets — billed by proponents as the future of finance — replayed Wall Street’s oldest reflex at machine speed during market stress: a stampede for the exits.

The spark was familiar but unexpected. Donald Trump’s 100% tariff threat on Chinese imports rattled global markets bloated with speculative excess. But the pain was most acute in crypto, with an index tracking altcoins — the smaller tokens beyond Bitcoin and Ether that rely on fragile liquidity and speculative zeal – dropping as much as 40% within minutes.

While the crash ...