Bitcoin (BTC) and other top crypto assets witnessed minor gains on Monday despite President Donald Trump's new tariff laws sparking increased global trade war concerns. Investors remained unfazed as crypto products recorded $1.3 billion, and Strategy resumed its Bitcoin buying tactic after purchasing 7,633 BTC for $742 million.
Top cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP, witnessed slight gains as the crypto market looks to recover from a slight weekend drawdown.
This highlights the growing correlation between crypto and the stock market, with stocks like the S&P 500, which tracks the 500 most valuable companies listed on the US market, seeing minor gains.
The rise comes amid increasing global trade war tensions as President Donald Trump announced new tariffs, including broader reciprocal tariffs and a 25% tariff on aluminum and steel.
In the previous trade war of 2018-2019, the S&P 500 saw declines of over 2.5% following tariff announcements, per The Kobeissi Letter.
If the stock market reacts the same way in the current trade war tension, it could spark sharp declines for cryptocurrencies.
However, Strategy's Bitcoin buying spree kicked off again following a previous halting late in January.
The Bitcoin treasury company acquired an additional 7,633 BTC for $724 million at an average price of $97,255.
The resumed purchases could keep prices afloat as global trade tensions rise.
Crypto products took in $1.3 billion in inflows last week as investors looked to capitalize on the recent market dip.
CoinShares' weekly report revealed that digital asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs) witnessed inflows for the 5th consecutive week.
Bitcoin ETFs netted inflows of $407 million, with the products now representing 7% of its total market cap. This highlights the level of growth that Bitcoin ETFs have gained since their approval in January.
Ethereum ETFs stole the show last week with inflows of $793 million, indicating renewed optimism toward the products.
This was also the first time the asset outpaced Bitcoin this year as investors "bought the dip" during the recent market decline.
XRP and Solana products also witnessed inflows of $21 million and $11 million, respectively.
Despite the trade war tensions, investors poured more capital into crypto products. This indicates a slight confidence in the markets amid the changing tariff landscape.
Token launches influence demand and adoption among market participants. Listings on crypto exchanges deepen the liquidity for an asset and add new participants to an asset’s network. This is typically bullish for a digital asset.
A hack is an event in which an attacker captures a large volume of the asset from a DeFi bridge or hot wallet of an exchange or any other crypto platform via exploits, bugs or other methods. The exploiter then transfers these tokens out of the exchange platforms to ultimately sell or swap the assets for other cryptocurrencies or stablecoins. Such events often involve an en masse panic triggering a sell-off in the affected assets.
Macroeconomic events like the US Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates influence crypto assets mainly through the direct impact they have on the US Dollar. An increase in interest rate typically negatively influences Bitcoin and altcoin prices, and vice versa. If the US Dollar index declines, risk assets and associated leverage for trading gets cheaper, in turn driving crypto prices higher.
Halvings are typically considered bullish events as they slash the block reward in half for miners, constricting the supply of the asset. At consistent demand if the supply reduces, the asset’s price climbs.