On Monday morning, the market did that factor it all the time does when politics stops being background noise and begins grabbing the steering wheel.
Screens went crimson, chats stuffed with the identical half-jokes about “macro,” and Bitcoin slipped again beneath the psychological ranges merchants had simply spent the weekend defending. The headline danger had a well-known scent, tariffs, allies, a menace timed for optimum consideration, and simply sufficient ambiguity to maintain leverage on edge.
This time the spark got here from Greenland.
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump escalated his stress marketing campaign towards European allies who oppose U.S. efforts to amass the territory, floating a 10% tariff that may start on February 1, with a menace to lift it additional later this 12 months.
By Monday, markets have been not treating it as an offhand comment. U.S. futures slid, European indices fell, and the story mutated from geopolitical theatre into an actual commerce shock that might spill throughout danger property.
For crypto merchants, the temper shift felt private. Loads of desks nonetheless bear in mind October, when tariff headlines helped set off one of many nastiest liquidation cascades of the cycle, the type that empties out leverage and leaves even good positions wanting silly for 48 hours.
That reminiscence has been sitting quietly within the background, ready for the subsequent excuse.
Then the excuse arrived, with a letter.
In Davos, BBC’s protection and wider reporting circulated that Trump despatched a observe to Norway’s prime minister linking Greenland to the Nobel Peace Prize, suggesting that, as a result of he had not been awarded the prize, he may justify taking a tougher posture.
The textual content of the message additionally moved by diplomatic channels, in response to reporting attributed to a number of officers.
Expensive Jonas: Contemplating your Nation determined to not give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I not really feel an obligation to suppose purely of Peace, though it’ll all the time be predominant, however can now take into consideration what is sweet and correct for the US of America. Denmark can not defend that land from Russia or China, and why have they got a “proper of possession” anyway? There aren’t any written paperwork, it’s solely {that a} boat landed there a whole bunch of years in the past, however we had boats touchdown there, additionally. I’ve carried out extra for NATO than some other individual since its founding, and now, NATO ought to do one thing for the US. The World is just not safe except we now have Full and Whole Management of Greenland. Thanks! President DJT.
It sounded ridiculous, but it landed with weight as a result of officers verified it was actual, and it gave markets one thing they hate: a story that may escalate with out warning.
That’s the half that issues.
The “tariff cycle” and the Greenland episode
Again in October, a submit from The Kobeissi Letter laid out what it referred to as an investor playbook for tariff episodes, a rinse-and-repeat sequence of cryptic threats, panic promoting, weekend rhetoric, a Sunday night time futures pop, and the gradual crawl towards a deal that lets markets breathe once more.
| Step | What occurs | What to observe for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trump posts a cryptic tariff warning aimed toward a rustic or sector, markets drift decrease | Imprecise language, no numbers but, danger property soften, crypto funding begins to chill |
| 2 | Trump pronounces a big tariff fee, markets dump exhausting, weak positions get shaken out | A particular share, fast spike in volatility, liquidations improve |
| 3 | Dip consumers step in, a head-fake rally types, then contemporary lows seem, sensible cash begins shopping for | Bounce on low conviction, then a second leg down with higher bid assist |
| 4 | After Friday’s shut, Trump doubles down on tariffs to use stress | Weekend escalation, posts or statements timed after market hours |
| 5 | On Saturday, the tariff goal responds or feedback | Official rebuttals, retaliation speak, counter-tariff hints |
| 6 | On Sunday, earlier than futures open, Trump posts that he’s engaged on an answer | “Engaged on it,” “productive talks,” “deal doable,” softening language |
| 7 | Futures open sharply larger Sunday night, then lose momentum into Monday’s open | Hole up at 6pm ET, fade into money open, uneven risk-on try |
| 8 | After Monday’s open, Treasury Secretary Bessent seems on dwell TV and reassures buyers | Media hit from Treasury, tone and phrasing matter, reassurance vs justification |
| 9 | Over the subsequent 2–4 weeks, administration officers tease a commerce deal | “Framework,” “constructive,” “ongoing talks,” leaks to pleasant retailers |
| 10 | Trump pronounces a brand new commerce deal, shares hit a document excessive | Photograph-op announcement, aid rally, danger property re-rate larger |
| 11 | Cycle repeats from Step #1 | New goal, new sector, similar sequence of headlines and volatility |
The query in the present day is easy, the place are we in that loop now, and does the loop even maintain up?
Should you strip out the social media bravado and take a look at the form of the week, Greenland suits the early a part of the Kobeissi framework nearly too cleanly.
Friday introduced the preliminary menace, Trump saying he could hike tariffs on nations that refuse to “go together with” the Greenland push.
Over the weekend, the menace hardened into specifics, a ten% tariff starting February 1, aimed toward eight European nations, with a path to a better fee later within the 12 months if there is no such thing as a deal.
The goal nations pushed again, and the backlash grew to become a part of the commerce story, not a facet observe.
In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned {that a} commerce struggle is in nobody’s curiosity, and defended Greenland’s proper, alongside Denmark, to find out its personal future. Throughout Europe, officers mentioned retaliation instruments and the way far they have been prepared to go if the tariffs moved from menace to coverage.
Then, on Monday, the diplomatic curveball was delivered: the Nobel letter, which widened the story from a tariff spat right into a query about intent and credibility.
On the similar time, the market tape refused to play together with the best a part of Kobeissi’s “playbook.”
The mannequin assumes that by Sunday night the White Home tends to dangle an answer, and futures bounce, solely to fade into the Monday open. That pop is the stress launch valve.
We didn’t get that.
As an alternative, U.S. futures, and subsequently Bitcoin, sank into Monday on the tariff menace.
That’s why, should you’re forcing this Greenland episode right into a numbered step, the cleanest reply is that we’re nonetheless sitting within the “goal responds” section, the a part of the cycle the place allies push again, officers posture, and markets commerce the uncertainty.
In different phrases, Step 5 vitality.
There’s a element that complicates it additional, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did seem on TV, which in Kobeissi’s sequence is the second the administration reassures buyers after the Monday open.
However the reporting round Bessent in the present day is extra about justification than reassurance, arguing that Europe is just too weak to ensure Greenland’s safety. That type of message extends the standoff, it doesn’t calm it.
So sure, the “Treasury on TV” second confirmed up, the calming perform didn’t.
What crypto merchants noticed, and why it mattered
Bitcoin doesn’t want a geopolitical motive to be unstable, it could possibly do this by itself, nevertheless it reacts badly when the world shifts into risk-off mode and leverage is leaning the flawed manner.
On Monday, Bitcoin slid to round $92,500 in early buying and selling because the tariff menace hit sentiment. The transfer was a pointy, quick drop that took a number of thousand {dollars} off the worth in a brief window.
Whether or not you name it concern or positioning, what merchants have been actually responding to was the sensation that the state of affairs had no off-ramp but.
That’s the reason the October comparability retains coming again. In October 2025, tariff headlines round China helped set off a brutal unwind that merchants nonetheless reference because the second the market discovered, once more, how fragile leverage will be.
In the present day’s promoting is smaller in magnitude, and the market construction is completely different, however the emotional sample rhymes, merchants see a headline that may broaden, they bear in mind what liquidation appears like, they usually begin trimming danger earlier than another person forces them to.
Does the thesis maintain up
Kobeissi framed the tariff cycle as an “actual playbook.” Greenland is a stress check for that declare.
The thesis holds up as a approach to describe how trendy markets digest Trump’s tariff drama, first the menace, then the panic, then the weekend amplification, then the scramble for a “answer” headline that lets positioning rebuild.
It breaks down when it pretends the de-escalation all the time arrives on time.
Greenland has not supplied that clear de-escalation beat but, primarily as a result of the subject material is a rustic’s sovereignty somewhat than pure macroeconomics.
As an alternative, the narrative escalated right into a diplomatic letter that European leaders are taking significantly, and the administration’s messaging, together with by way of Bessent, has leaned exhausting into justification.
That issues as a result of markets commerce the trail, not the punchline. A playbook constructed round a predictable Sunday-night aid rally will depend on somebody selecting aid.
Proper now, the stress is the purpose.
The label for this second, and the 2 triggers to observe
The cleanest label for Monday is easy.
Escalation with out the Sunday off ramp.
If the cycle goes to snap again into one thing acquainted, the off-ramp has to seem after the very fact, as a result of the Sunday futures second has already come and gone, and it got here within the flawed course. futures
From right here, two issues matter.
- A reputable de-escalation sign within the subsequent few days, one thing particular, not vibes, not “we’re fascinated by it,” an actual line about talks, delays, scope modifications, or situations that soften the February 1 path. Markets can dwell with battle, they battle with open-ended timelines.
- The tape has to substantiate that the panic has peaked. That appears like a reversal that holds by the U.S. money session, with danger property stabilising as an alternative of whipsawing, and crypto cooling off with out one other compelled unwind. You don’t want a rally to know leverage is clearing, you want value motion that stops behaving like it’s one headline away from breaking.
If we do get the traditional “Sunday night time aid” transfer, it won’t be the one we simply missed, it is going to be the subsequent one, the subsequent weekend the place an answer headline arrives earlier than futures open and offers merchants permission to reprice the chance.
Till then, we’re within the section the place headlines do the harm, and the market spends the remainder of the day making an attempt to work out whether or not the harm is momentary.
For anybody who lived by October’s liquidation shock, that call by no means feels summary. It looks like a finger hovering over the shut button, and a timeline that may change with one submit, one interview, or one letter that seems like parody and arrives as coverage. letter
