Bitcoin rose on Thursday, extending a rebound from recent losses amid heightened speculation over U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans for a crypto reserve before a White House summit this week.
Risk appetite was also aided by Trump making some concessions in his recently imposed 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico, although his tariffs against China persisted, while the U.S. president also flagged plans for more trade duties in April.
Still, Bitcoin was trading well above sub-$80,000 lows hit last week, when risk appetite was battered by concerns over slowing U.S. growth and a brewing global trade war.
Trump’s earlier mentions of a crypto reserve had also sparked only fleeting gains in prices.
Bitcoin rose 6.2% to $92,532.3 by 00:46 ET (05:46 GMT). Gains in the crypto also came tracking a recovery in global stock markets.
Lutnick says Trump to reveal Bitcoin reserve plans at White House summit
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told independent publication The Pavlovic Today that Trump will reveal more plans for a Bitcoin strategic reserve on Friday, when he hosts the White House’s first crypto summit.
Lutnick also said that Trump would give Bitcoin special consideration under his crypto plans.
Trump is expected to provide more insight into his administration’s plans for crypto regulation, especially after he signed a host of executive orders to explore a regulatory framework for crypto.
Trump’s plans for a government-backed crypto reserve will be a key point of focus during Friday’s summit, given that he has long touted its formation. The U.S. President had last week outlined five cryptos- Solana, Cardano, XRP, Bitcoin, and Ether, for the reserve.
But Trump has so far provided scant cues on how the reserve will be formed- through executive order or through Congress. The former option will severely limit the amount of funds that can be deployed towards the reserve, while the latter option is likely to face resistance from policymakers, given that reducing government spending is a key goal of Trump and the Republican party.
This uncertainty also saw crypto markets log a fleeting positive reaction to Trump’s earlier comments on a reserve.
Crypto price today: altcoins track Bitcoin rebound
Broader crypto prices rose in tandem with Bitcoin, although they were also nursing a choppy performance over the past week.
World no.2 crypto Ether rose 6.4% to $2,319.80, while XRP rose 3.9% to $2.5276.
Solana and Cardano added 5.7% and 2.3%, respectively,
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin jumped 9.1%, while $TRUMP surged 5.6% from near record lows.
