Bitcoin on the Rise as China Tariff Exemptions Give Stocks Relief

The price of Bitcoin jumped above $95,000 on Friday—for the first time since February—as investors assessed whether U.S. President Donald Trump was making progress on trade negotiations with China, after he appeared to soften his rhetoric toward the nation earlier this week.

The leading cryptocurrency was recently changing hands at $95,310, a nearly 2% increase over the past day, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. Altcoins were mixed, with Ethereum rising 2% to $1,800, while XRP fell 0.7% to $2.20.

Trump said on Friday morning that he’s spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping “many times” since unveiling sweeping tariffs on America’s largest trading partner. A day before, a spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry rejected the notion that any trade negotiations had taken place so far, indicating a deal isn’t in the works, per the New York Times.

Still, it appeared on Friday that Beijing had abandoned retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. semiconductors, which were subject to tariffs of 125%, per CNN.

Crypto prices surged alongside U.S. stocks earlier this week, as members of Trump’s administration, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, signaled that the president’s trade war against China was unsustainable for both sides involved.

China’s decision to roll back semiconductor tariffs, while considering exemptions on other goods like medical equipment, could suggest that markets have moved past peak uncertainty, according to Aurelie Bathere, principal research analyst at crypto analytics firm Nansen.

“China is also starting with tariff exemptions on some products because it is hurting some of its industries,” she told Decrypt. “It will be a slow climb off the wall of worry for markets though, given the low level of trust between the U.S. and China negotiating parties.”

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 0.74%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 1.26%, according to Yahoo Finance. The indices were on track to close the week with a 4.6% and 6.7% rise, respectively, but remain below where they were on April 2, when Trump unveiled “reciprocal” tariffs on nearly every nation.

Although the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment reading for April was revised higher on Friday, it remained down for a fourth straight month and at its lowest point since July 2022. At the time, inflation neared a four-decade high of 9.1%, as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

Plummeting consumer sentiment is among the reasons to think more uncertainty could lay ahead, Juan Leon, senior investment strategist at crypto asset manager Bitwise, told Decrypt.

“He keeps wiffle-waffling,” Leon added, referring to Trump, who suggested on Friday that another delay to imposing reciprocal levies is unlikely, per Bloomberg.

“Until we get actual clarity in terms of signed agreements between Trump and any of the export partners, especially China, we are not out of the choppy waters,” he said.

Edited by Andrew Hayward