Huge Deals and Big Expectations: Why Crypto is Up Today

Huge Deals and Big Expectations: Why Crypto is Up Today Connor Sephton is a journalist based in London, who also works for Sky News and the BBC as a radio newsreader and online reporter. He has covered crypto since 2018 — reporting from major conferences... Elena is the Features Lead at Cryptonews.com. With a Master's degree in science journalism from City University, London, she is passionate about exploring complex topics in the world of technology. If the old motto for investors is “sell in May and go away,” it seems nobody told the crypto markets. Bitcoin has now nudged to $100,000 on some exchanges — but CoinMarketCap data suggests the world’s biggest cryptocurrency is yet to return to six-figure territory. There’s also a sea of green across altcoins, with Ether accelerating toward $2,000 following on from the successful Pectra upgrade . In fact, every single one of the 60 biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap has made gains over the past 24 hours... a pretty rare feat. So: what’s behind this sudden burst of bullish momentum? Well, there seems to be multiple factors at play. Trump’s Trade Deals Perhaps the most significant news line driving the markets forward relates to Donald Trump announcing that the U.K. and U.S. have reached a trade deal. In normal times, this wouldn’t be all that remarkable — but following the fallout from “Liberation Day,” when punishing tariffs were unveiled, this matters. There are now hopes that other countries will be able to reach a compromise with Washington, marking an end to the almighty battering taken by Wall Street. But it’s important to stress that plenty of uncertainty remains, with Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell keeping interest rates on hold once again. That displeased the president, who wrote on Truth Social: While Trump has recently suggested he might be inclined to fire Powell, he seemed to perform a U-turn in an NBC interview on Sunday, where he said: All of this comes at a time where other major economies are slashing rates — with the Bank of England unveiling another 25 basis point cut on Thursday. Crypto Deals There have also been some pretty significant announcements within the crypto sector specifically over the past day or two. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Coinbase is planning to snap up the crypto options platform Deribit for a cool $2.9 billion. This is one of the biggest acquisitions in this industry’s history, against a backdrop of pro-crypto policies coming from the White House. Meanwhile, we’re seeing even more companies being established that have the goal of acquiring as much Bitcoin as possible. The latest is Nakamoto, and it’s the brainchild of BTC Inc. CEO David Bailey. He’s reportedly raised $300 million to get the investment firm off the ground. Last month, Tether, SoftBank and Cantor Fitzgerald teamed up to launch Twenty One, which is kicking off with a sizable 42,000 BTC warchest. Regulators in the U.S. have also confirmed that banks can buy and sell crypto on behalf of their customers — increasing the services they can provide. This has the potential to drive adoption, and bring a greater number of financial institutions into the digital assets space. Big Expectations The solid gains for Bitcoin and Ether will inevitably drive up inflows into exchange-traded funds. And after a gloomy April — where BTC touched lows of $75,000 at one point — bullish predictions are starting to make a comeback. Standard Chartered analyst Geoffrey Kendrick has torn up a previous target of BTC hitting $120,000 before the end of June, arguing this is too conservative. Polymarket seems to agree. One month ago, bettors said there was a 39% chance of Bitcoin reaching this milestone in 2025. Fast forward to now, and it’s 64%. Meanwhile, there’s seen to be 43% odds of BTC topping $130,000 and a 25% chance of $150,000, falling to just 13% for $200,000. Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood — who’s renowned for being one of Bitcoin’s most bullish voices — is also optimistic. Even in the most bearish scenario, she now anticipates that BTC will be worth $500,000 by 2030 — with a base case of $1.2 million. To put that latter figure into context, that would be a surge of 1,100% from current levels. Her bull case is a staggering $2.4 million... which would result in gains of 2,300%. All eyes now are on whether BTC can eclipse an all-time high of $109,114.88 set on January 20.