Bitcoin Surges 33% Above $100,000 on US-UK Trade Deal

Bitcoin has surged past the $100,000 mark for the first time in three months, defying expectations of a downward trend. The cryptocurrency initially breached the six-figure threshold in December following Donald Trump's election victory, peaking at over $109,000 before his inauguration in January. However, the price began to decline steadily in the weeks that followed, bottoming out at just under $75,000 in early April due to panic over Trump's punitive tariffs against U.S. trading partners.

This decline was particularly severe for many altcoins, with Solana (SOL) and ether (ETH) experiencing peak-to-bottom declines of over 60%. Despite this, prices have since rebounded, with traditional markets also recovering from the tariff shock. The latest surge above $100,000 is attributed to a trade deal between the U.S. and UK.

According to Standard Chartered's Geoff Kendrick, the dominant narrative for bitcoin has shifted to focus on flows, with significant inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs. While some of these flows are offset by basis trades, Kendrick argues that the recent inflows suggest real money is moving into the ETFs. Institutional reporting of spot BTC ETF holdings and ownership of major corporate bitcoin holder Strategy (MSTR) will begin rolling in one week, and Kendrick expects further confirmation of important players boosting their allocations. Kendrick has revised his second-quarter target for bitcoin, apologizing that his previous target of $120,000 may be too low.