Bitcoin Surges 12.2% In A Week, Reaches $93,600
2min read Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a notable surge, rising 2.6% in the last 24 hours and 12.2% over the past week, reaching $93,600 for the first time since early March. This rally has outpaced many other assets in the market, with the CoinDesk 20 index, which tracks the top 20 cryptocurrencies excluding stablecoins, memecoins, and exchange tokens, increasing by 4.2% in the same period. Sui (SUI) led the gains with a 24% increase, while Cardano's ADA and Chainlink's LINK both saw 7% gains.
Despite the overall positive sentiment, the crypto market's rally faced a setback on Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent reiterated that a comprehensive trade deal between Washington and Beijing would take years to finalize. This statement dampened the initial optimism, leading to a pullback in crypto stocks. Miners such as Bitdeer and Core Scientific, which had seen double-digit gains earlier in the day, closed with roughly 4% increases. Coinbase and Strategy also saw modest gains of 2.1% and 1.4%, respectively.
U.S. President Donald Trump had previously indicated a potential reduction in tariffs on China, but Bessent's comments suggested that the White House had not made any unilateral offers to cut tariffs. This clarification highlighted the ongoing uncertainty in U.S.-China relations, which has kept risk appetite in check over the past two months. According to Paul Howard, director at crypto trading firm Wincent, markets have already priced in the initial tough stances and tariff threats. He noted that history suggests a more constructive phase and easing volatility typically follow the initial tensions, which could support risk assets like crypto.
The renewed investor demand for Bitcoin is evident in the inflows to U.S.-listed spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which have recorded nearly $1.3 billion in net inflows this week. This strong performance indicates that the rally is driven by institutional capital positioning rather than retail-driven hype. Matt Mena, crypto research strategist at digital asset manager 21Shares, highlighted that more investors are turning to Bitcoin not just as a speculative asset but as a flight to safety amid rising uncertainty in traditional markets. However, Mena also noted that Bitcoin is facing resistance at around the $95,000 level in the short term and could experience a pullback.
Meanwhile, gold has seen a significant decline, down 2.5% today and trading at $3,290 per ounce. This follows a four-month rally that saw gold rise 35% to $3,500. The stalling of gold's rally could be a positive sign for Bitcoin, according to Charles Edwards, founder of bitcoin-focused hedge fund Capriole Investments. Edwards noted that historically, Bitcoin has followed gold's gains with a few-month lag. He suggested that Bitcoin is showing significant strength and has decoupled from risk assets, positioning itself as digital gold and a potential hedge against further decay in risk assets.
