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Bitcoin Races Above $97K on U.S.-China Trade Deal Progress

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is headed to Switzerland for talks with Chinese representatives.

Updated May 7, 2025, 12:05 p.m. Published May 7, 2025, 12:57 a.m.
Photo of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
[Center] Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

What to know:

  • Risk assets — crypto among them — are moving higher Wednesday evening on hopes for a U.S./China trade deal.
  • Bitcoin has jumped about 3% in the last two hours, rising above $97,000.
  • "The current tariffs and trade barriers are unsustainable, but we don’t want to decouple," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

A thawing in the trade stance from both the U.S. and China has sent risk assets higher in the hours since the U.S. stock market closed on Wednesday.

"The current tariffs and trade barriers are unsustainable, but we don’t want to decouple," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, disclosing plans to travel to Switzerland to meet with Chinese counterparts for trade talks this coming weekend.

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"Senior U.S. officials have made a series of remarks hinting at adjustments to tariffs and have expressed, through various channels, a desire to engage with the Chinese side on tariff-related issues," said a China Ministry of Commerce spokesperson. "China has carefully evaluated these messages from the U.S. side and, after fully considering global expectations, China’s own interests, and the appeals of American industries and consumers, has decided to agree to engage with the U.S."

The news has quickly sent higher by about 3% to $97,200. Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures have jumped about 1%.

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CoinDesk Data's monthly Exchange Review captures the key developments within the cryptocurrency exchange market. The report includes analyses that relate to exchange volumes, crypto derivatives trading, market segmentation by fees, fiat trading, and more.

What to know:

Trading activity softened in March as market uncertainty grew amid escalating tariff tensions between the U.S. and global trading partners. Centralized exchanges recorded their lowest combined trading volume since October, declining 6.24% to $6.79tn. This marked the third consecutive monthly decline across both market segments, with spot trading volume falling 14.1% to $1.98tn and derivatives trading slipping 2.56% to $4.81tn.

  • Trading Volumes Decline for Third Consecutive Month: Combined spot and derivatives trading volume on centralized exchanges fell by 6.24% to $6.79tn in March 2025, reaching the lowest level since October. Both spot and derivatives markets recorded their third consecutive monthly decline, falling 14.1% and 2.56% to $1.98tn and $4.81tn respectively.
  • Institutional Crypto Trading Volume on CME Falls 23.5%: In March, total derivatives trading volume on the CME exchange fell by 23.5% to $175bn, the lowest monthly volume since October 2024. CME's market share among derivatives exchanges dropped from 4.63% to 3.64%, suggesting declining institutional interest amid current macroeconomic conditions. 
  • Bybit Spot Market Share Slides in March: Spot trading volume on Bybit fell by 52.1% to $81.1bn in March, coinciding with decreased trading activity following the hack of the exchange's cold wallets in February. Bybit's spot market share dropped from 7.35% to 4.10%, its lowest since July 2023.

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