BTC Heats up Then Cools After Brief China Trade Deal Boost
The world’s two largest economies managed to hash out a successful trade deal after a series of crucial meetings over the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland. The good news sent stock markets soaring and helped bitcoin briefly rally past $105K on Monday morning.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sat across China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng as the two worked on resolving the trade impasse that resulted from President Donald Trump’s unprecedented 145% tariff on Chinese goods, a move reciprocated with a retaliatory 125% levy on U.S. products entering China.
(U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent / United States Department of the Treasury)
Trump has long complained about the $1.2 trillion trade deficit the U.S. has with its Asian counterpart. The subsequent tariffs he imposed sparked a trade war between the two countries that left economists predicting a global recession. The president sent Bessent to meet with the Chinese delegation in Geneva to ease tensions and strike a trade deal palatable to both parties.
Then on Sunday, the White House issued a statement announcing that both countries had agreed on a 90-day reprieve that will reduce tariffs on Chinese goods to 30%, while U.S. goods will only be charged a 10% import tax. Further negotiations are set to take place, but the news was good enough to send the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average indices soaring 2.66%, 3.57%, and 2.42% respectively on Monday morning, according to Yahoo Finance. Bitcoin went as high as $105,747.45 before retreating to $102,818.31 at the time of writing.
“I’m happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” said Bessent on Sunday. “We will be giving details tomorrow, but I can tell you that the talks were productive.”
Overview of Market Metrics
Bitcoin slipped 1.28% to $102,818.31 over the past 24 hours, according to data from Coinmarketcap. The cryptocurrency traded between $102,609.55 and $105,747.45 during the period, consolidating after last week’s strong rally, which still leaves BTC up 9.48% over the past 7 days. Evidently, bitcoin remains in bullish territory from a weekly perspective, despite today’s dip.
(BTC price/ Trading View)
Trading volume rose 17.63% to $55.9 billion, indicating ongoing engagement from both retail and institutional players. However, bitcoin’s market capitalization edged down 1.09% to $2.04 trillion, reflecting the day’s softer price action. As a result, BTC dominance dropped sharply by 1.04 percentage points to 62.49%, suggesting altcoins are gaining ground on the cryptocurrency.
(BTC dominance / Trading View)
Derivatives markets reflected a similar cooling. Total BTC futures open interest fell 1.01% to $67.69 billion, according to Coinglass. In terms of liquidations, bulls took the hit: out of $32.98 million in total liquidations, long positions accounted for a hefty $31.70 million, while shorts saw only $1.29 million wiped out. The sudden pullback proved costly for over-leveraged long traders, underscoring the risks of chasing upward momentum in volatile markets.
