The trade war between the US and China keeps heating up. The White House announced late Thursday that tariffs on China were now hitting 145% up from 125%. The additional 20% tariffs are due to the country’s complicity in the fentanyl crisis badly affecting many parts of North America. Additionally, Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, recently noted that de-listing Chinese stocks was a possibility, although he reaffirmed his confidence that President Trump and China’s President Xi would be able to work things out.

Surveying the state of affairs, such as markets, the overall economy, and social cohesion—things like this, I remember something very wise I was told when I was younger: “As bad as things are right now, they can always get worse.” I think many of us are presently resigned to the fact that things—on so many fronts—aren’t great right now, and they don’t seem like they’ll get better soon.

With legacy markets puking this week, crypto has likewise been a bloodbath. With lots of blood already shed, however, the question looms large: Is this a much-needed market reset before we get back to our programming of up-only, or is this just the sign of another clear downtrend to take us further into the abyss?