Bitcoin soars on Trump tariff bomb… Stronger than US stock market

After President Donald Trump announced additional tariffs on Chinese imports in April under the name 'Liberation Day', an analysis showed that Bitcoin (BTC) demonstrated a much stronger recovery compared to the US stock market. While the S&P500 and Nasdaq indices generally declined, Bitcoin dropped to $75,000 on April 7th and then surged 27% in a month, recovering to around $95,000. Crypto trader Daan Crypto mentioned Bitcoin's relative robustness during the stock market decline, suggesting this could signal Bitcoin establishing itself as a kind of 'digital safe-haven asset'. He assessed that Bitcoin's strength might have been driven by interpretations of using cryptocurrency as a potential workaround for US tariffs against China. However, this interpretation implies that Bitcoin might return to weakness if US-China trade negotiations are ultimately resolved. If trade uncertainty was a driving factor for Bitcoin's rise, its upward momentum could potentially slow after negotiations are settled. The White House officially announced on May 11th that they achieved 'substantial progress' in trade negotiations between the US and China. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that "detailed information will be announced soon" and that the negotiations were "productive". However, no specific agreement has been officially announced yet. Experts' forecasts about Bitcoin's future price movements differ. Jeff Mei, COO of BTSE, predicted that if trade negotiations are concluded and potential interest rate cuts become visible, institutional investors' accessibility to cryptocurrencies might increase. Jupiter Zheng, a researcher at Hashkey Capital, analyzed that the US-China trade agreement could mean global market stability, potentially triggering investors to shift towards growth assets and alternative investments. He added that if the agreement causes dollar weakness or expands liquidity in emerging markets, Bitcoin might even set new highs. Meanwhile, on-chain analyst Will Clemente assessed that for Bitcoin to regain momentum, a clear and substantial agreement in China-related trade negotiations must be announced. He emphasized that the current Bitcoin uptrend is in a consolidation phase and needs policy catalysts to maintain its momentum.