Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is on course to stay largely flat on a weekly basis in a period where tariff talks dominated the headlines.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency suffered a significant sell-off in early trade on Monday, with bitcoin sliding below the $75,000 mark for the first time since Nov. 7 last year. BTC, however, recovered some of its momentum later in the same day.

Bitcoin’s struggle continued on Tuesday, as the cryptocurrency that weathered the initial reciprocal tariff response seemed to falter.

The crypto market, however, jolted higher Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tit-for-tat tariffs for more than 75 countries but a higher levy on Chinese imports. BTC regained the $80K threshold on the day.

Stoking the gains on Wednesday, Trump announced a 90-day pause on counter tariffs for more than 75 countries that had reached out for negotiations, as well as a reduced 10% counter tariff rate for all countries but China during the span.

“Following Trump's 90-day tariff pause, the market experienced a notable rally, with Bitcoin surging to a key level just below $84,000. This upswing was fueled by optimism that the worst may be behind us,” said Jupiter Zheng, Partner, Liquid Fund and Research, HashKey Capital

BTC also traded above the $80K mark for most of Thursday, but failed to stay above the threshold as U.S.- China trade war seemed to escalate.

While potential headwinds remain, such as retaliatory tariffs from China in response to Trump's 125% increase, the start of negotiations with other countries offers some hope. As U.S. regulators continue to streamline regulatory hurdles and implement more favorable policies, it's possible that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have reached a bottom, assuming no unexpected surprises emerge. The industry may not have fully priced in these developments, leaving room for potential growth, Zheng added.

“The market is rallying in response to anticipation that most trading partners will negotiate trade deals with US, avoiding a full-fledged trade war. That being said, continued tariffs against China and vice versa will lead to a realignment of global trade that could drastically change how the world operates. We remain cautious until we see the consequences of this play out over the coming months,” Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE said.

On Friday, China has announced an increase in tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%, up from the previous rate of 84%, effective April 12, and stated it will disregard any additional tariff hikes announced by Washington moving forward. BTC, however, did not seem to react much to the news.

In the early days of the week, the digital currency was under pressure by widespread bearish sentiment across the crypto market and ongoing struggles in U.S. stocks amid Trump’s aggressive tariff policies.

“If bitcoin is in a period of weakness, investors seeking safety and stability might turn to gold,” CME Group said.

“The recent divergence between gold and bitcoin highlights the complex interplay of economic, political and market forces,” CME Group added.

Notable News

• Argentina's lower house of Congress opted to launch a probe into the Libra cryptocurrency, which President Javier Milei hyped before its sudden collapse cost investors hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a recent release.
• BitFuFu (FUFU) announced on Wednesday bitcoin holdings of 1,847 as of March 31, an increase of 47 BTC from the end of February.
• Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR) said in March its self-mined bitcoin (BTC-USD) came in at 114 BTC, up from 110 BTC it had mined in the prior month but down from 294 BTC in the same period the prior year.
• Interactive Brokers (IBKR) added more cryptocurrencies to its trading platform, including Chainlink (LINK-USD), Avalanche (AVAX-USD) and Sui (SUI-USD)
• Standard Chartered predicted Tuesday that the XRP (XRP-USD) cryptocurrency could skyrocket more than tenfold to $12.50 per coin before President Donald Trump's term expires on Jan. 20, 2029.
• Ripple Labs, the company behind the XRP (XRP-USD) cryptocurrency, agreed to buy multi-asset prime brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25B, a deal that's expected to bolster Ripple's efforts on the stablecoin front, it said.
• The U.S. Justice Department recently notified employees that the regulator was scrapping a unit focused on crypto enforcement, aligning with the Trump administration's push for deregulation.
• Strategy (MSTR) recognized a $5.91B unrealized loss on its digital assets for Q1 2025, which is expected to result in a net loss for the quarter, the company said on Monday.

Crypto Moves

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) up 5.6% to $84K as of 2:08 pm on Friday. Ether (ETH-USD) was up 4.3% to $1.6K, while DOGE (DOGE-USD) up 5.6%.

 

 

"Bitcoin, launched in 2009 as a payment system, pivoted to a reserve asset narrative after the 2018 BTC Cash Fork. A 'Trumpcession' may see it finally mature into a reserve," Seeking Alpha analyst Geneva Investor said.

While Bitcoin has not yet matured into a global reserve asset and remains correlated with risk assets, its superior technical qualities make it a strong long-term buy, in my view, Geneva Investor added.