Bitcoin (BTC) Trades Above $97,000 as US and China Reportedly Working on a Trade Deal

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading above $97,000 during the Asian morning hours as the market breathes a sigh of relief that the U.S. and China are said to be working on a trade deal

Bitcoin (BTC) price hovered above $97,000 during the Asian morning hours on Friday as the market breathed a sigh of relief that the U.S. and China are working on a trade deal, even if the market is skeptical that a deal will be reached this month.

“The U.S. has proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to hold discussions on the tariff issue,” China state media said in a post on Thursday evening.

The news comes as the market adjusts to a new report from Union Bank Switzerland that showed BTC's price is likely to fall to $10,000 by the fourth quarter of 2024.

Dogecoin (DOGE) led gains among majors with a 4% rise in the past 24 hours. Cardano's ADA, XRP, ether (ETH) and BNB rose between 1-3%, with the broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20) rising 2.2%.

Movement's MOVE extended losses to 21% as the company confirmed founder Rushi Manche had been suspended following a CoinDesk exposé of possible token manipulation involving the 21-year-old.

“We are aware of and investigating the allegations of potential token price manipulation by a Movement Labs employee and can confirm that the employee in question has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation,” a spokesperson for the company said in an email.

On Polymarket, bettors are skeptical that a deal will come this month, giving it only a 20% chance of happening by June. Bettors are likely concerned that the hawkish rhetoric from the White House means a deal may take longer than a month to be reached.

The speed and intensity of the tariffs the White House announced earlier this year panicked the market, leading to a significant drop in BTC's price, but with this apparent trade detente, $100,000 bitcoin is back on the agenda.

Other crypto metrics are looking healthy, market observers say, putting $100K bitcoin in sight.

"Momentum continues to build across crypto with spot flows broadening, alt activity heating up and subtle but meaningful shifts in market structure," trading and technology group Flowdesk said in a recent market note.

"As BTC ranges above $90K, undercurrents of risk appetite are growing stronger within both spot and derivative markets. Liquidity remains strong with rising volumes, surging weekend activity, and improving altcoin depth. At the same time, broad-based spot buying continues, led by speculative alts and AI tokens, alongside $1.5B in Bitcoin ETF inflows as institutional demand grows," Flowdesk also wrote.

The market is also likely optimistic about Strategy's continued BTC buys, and push towards further institutionalization.

As CoinDesk recently reported, Michael Saylor announced that Strategy is raising $21 billion for more BTC buys.

In a recent note, Presto Research said investors are increasingly impressed by Strategy’s growing institutional sophistication, highlighted by new valuation frameworks like BTC Torque and a strong focus on accurately pricing its fixed-income instruments.

"This level of detail and analysis is becoming increasingly crucial as institutions, especially those in the U.S., are being closely watched by regulators to ensure compliance with accounting standards," the research firm said.

Kava milestone pushes AI tokens higher

The AI tokens were in the green on Friday as the market reacted positively to news from Kava Labs that it hit 100K users of its decentralized AI platform.

Data from CoinGecko shows the segment of the market is up 3%, outperforming the CoinDesk 20, a measure of the performance of the largest digital assets, which is up by 1.8%.

"People are turning to Kava AI because it offers two things most platforms don’t, verifiability and privacy," Kava Labs' Scott Stuart said to CoinDesk in an email. "That includes users who are deeply embedded in Web3 as well as those simply seeking an alternative to opaque, centralized AI systems."

Interest in Kava and decentralized AI is growing globally, Stuart added, as more users recognize the value of AI that’s both decentralized and transparent, not reliant on a black-box model governed by a handful of corporations.