Bitcoin Snaps Winning Streak
Bitcoin snapped a five-day winning streak on Thursday, with modest losses of 1.3% over 24 hours as the crypto market’s recent rally cooled off.
The world’s biggest digital asset had accelerated to highs of $94,500 at one point, but briefly slipped below $92,000 in the early hours of Thursday morning. At time of publication, Bitcoin’s price sits at $92,349, down 1.2% on the day, according to CoinGecko.
BTC got off lightly compared with leading altcoins, with both XRP and Dogecoin slipping by 5.5% at time of publication. Both cryptocurrencies are up on the week, however, by 2.5% and 10.8% respectively.
Trade War Concerns Linger
The halt to the crypto market’s upward momentum comes amid continued uncertainty about Donald Trump’s tariffs, and doubts that an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China will end soon.
Officials in Beijing have confirmed no negotiations are currently taking place, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has admitted the situation is not “sustainable.”
Meanwhile—speaking from the Oval Office on Wednesday—the president warned he may reintroduce “reciprocal” tariffs on several nations in the coming weeks.
The widespread levies announced on “Liberation Day” sent global stocks into freefall, and at one point, the S&P 500 was on the brink of a bear market.
A “sell everything” mentality also had a detrimental impact on Bitcoin, which briefly dipped below $75,000 at one point earlier this month.
All of this ongoing economic uncertainty, coupled with Trump’s vocal criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, appear to have stalled BTC’s bullish momentum.
Nevertheless, users of decentralized prediction market Myriad, launched by Decrypt’s parent company DASTAN, put the likelihood of Powell departing the Fed before June at less than 9%.
Bright Spots
There have been some bright spots. In a significant development, a new consortium has been established with the specific goal of acquiring Bitcoin.
The Financial Times reported that Twenty One Capital, which counts SoftBank, Tether and Bitfinex as partners, is set to launch with a 42,000 BTC war chest.
Meanwhile, exchange-traded funds tracking Bitcoin’s spot price on Wall Street are beginning to attract institutional interest once again.
Inflows to Bitcoin ETFs hit $913 million on Tuesday—the highest amount since the middle of January.
Despite the recent recovery, BTC is still trading at a 15% discount to its all-time high of $109,000, set three months ago.