The price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies surged after President Donald Trump said he authorized a 90-day pause on tariffs for countries that haven’t retaliated against the U.S.
The price of Bitcoin rose about 6% to nearly $82,000, while other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Solana, jumped more than 10%. Overall, the $2 trillion-plus global crypto market posted a one-day increase in excess of 7%, according to CoinMarketCap.
Crypto traders, like traders of other financial assets, welcomed the news Wednesday that Trump has backtracked on tariffs for most countries just days after announcing an aggressive agenda that upended global financial markets. Trump hasn’t relented on levies on goods imported from China; in a post on Truth Social, he said he’s increasing tariffs on China to 125%.
While the trade war may be far from over, traders celebrated that Trump reduced reciprocal tariffs on other countries to 10% during the pause period after a brutal few days of whipsawed trading. Before announcing the pause, Trump posted on Truth Social urging Americans to “be cool” and that “this is a great time to buy.”
The price of cryptocurrencies has provided an interesting read on the pro-crypto Trump administration. While cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin rallied in the weeks following his November 2024 election victory, that enthusiasm had already dissipated by mid-January when Trump returned to the White House.
Bitcoin bear market
In March, Bitcoin entered a bear market, defined as a decline of at least 20% from a high. Even with Wednesday’s gains, the price of the largest cryptocurrency by market cap is still down more than 22% from an all-time high of more than $109,000 just hours ahead of Trump’s second inauguration in January. Since then, global crypto markets have lost nearly $900 billion in value.
Meanwhile, the major U.S. stock indices have thus far not entered bear markets, though they were all in bear market territory in recent days. Trump’s announcement Wednesday buoyed stock prices, as the S&P 500 jumped 9.5% and the Nasdaq 100 spiked 12%.
Still, while a sense of euphoria has returned to financial markets, some crypto experts caution that it could be some time before these assets recover as the newest traders are being hit hardest by losses. Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, has predicted the Bitcoin bear market could last as long as six months.
