As markets opened across East Asia Monday morning, a wave of red swept through trading floors, signaling the deepening impact of the global sell-off sparked by sweeping U.S. tariffs and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

Bitcoin (BTC), often viewed as a barometer of risk sentiment in modern markets, traded just above $79,000 during early Asia hours. While the flagship cryptocurrency held firmer than many expected, the broader crypto market wasn’t as resilient. The CoinDesk 20 Index dropped 8%, with heavy losses across majors.

Equities in the region were hit even harder. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled more than 8%, while Shanghai’s SSE Composite slid 7%. Taiwan’s TAIEX saw a steep 9% drop, triggering exchange safeguards as major stocks like TSMC plunged 10% out of the gate. That decline was swift enough to hit the price variation limits designed to prevent extreme volatility.

Tech stocks bore the brunt of the pressure. Alibaba slumped 12%, Tencent shed 9%, and despite a carve-out in the U.S. tariff package for Taiwanese semiconductors, uncertainty around the future of the CHIPS Act spooked investors, leading to the sharp correction in TSMC. Analysts are now eyeing how this might foreshadow Nvidia’s (NVDA) performance when U.S. markets reopen.

Crypto wasn’t spared. Ethereum (ETH) fell 11%, Solana (SOL) dropped 10%, and XRP declined 9%. Lending protocols were hit especially hard — Maker (MKR) and Aave (AAVE) each fell around 14%.

CoinGlass data showed over $675 million in long positions were liquidated in just the last 12 hours, signaling a broad unwinding of bullish bets as fear takes over. Short liquidations stood at just $123 million by comparison.

Even meme coins weren’t immune — the TRUMP token, a political favorite turned crypto curiosity, fell 13% on the day, trailing most major DeFi tokens.

What began as cautious optimism just days ago is quickly giving way to a more sobering realization: if the sell-off continues, both traditional and digital markets could be in for a long, volatile spring.