The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit another all-time high on Wednesday. Bitcoin crossed $109,000 in late morning trading, surpassing its last mark in January, according to CoinGecko. It’s up more than 4% over the past day and more than 23% over the past month. The cryptocurrency’s recent rebound mirrors the broader resurgence in the stock markets. The S&P 500 is up 15% since late April, and the Nasdaq has jumped more than 21%.
The macroeconomic upswing follows a ratcheting down in President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and policy on tariffs.
In early April, the 47th president unveiled a suite of historically severe taxes on international imports. In addition to a base 10% tax on all imports into the U.S., Trump also added additional surcharges to imports from a slew of the U.S.’s largest trading partners, especially China, which retaliated with its own reciprocal tariffs. Worries over the trade war’s effect on the international economy spilled over into the stock and bond markets.
As the global economy shuddered, Trump delayed the onset of some of his more severe tariffs. and, last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that he and Chinese counterparts had negotiated a 90-day pause. Markets have since rebounded.
While many advocates for Bitcoin argue that the cryptocurrency is a hedge against more traditional assets, the digital asset often moves in lockstep with the stock market and the performance of large tech companies.
After Trump won his campaign for reelection, investor enthusiasm soared in anticipation of his administration’s deregulatory agenda and promised interest rate cuts. In January, on the day of Trump’s inauguration, Bitcoin notched its last all-time high, according to CoinGecko.
But soon after Trump assumed the presidency, the cryptocurrency—and the stock markets—tanked. In early April, less than a week after Trump unveiled his set of severe tariffs, Bitcoin dropped to a low of nearly $76,000,
Still, investors often attribute the cryptocurrency’s daily price swings to more crypto-specific market changes. Phil Wirtjes, the CEO of the crypto exchange Enclave Markets, said Wednesday’s surge in Bitcoin’s price is “likely aided by policy advancements.”
He pointed to the Senate’s recent progress on a bill that regulates stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies pegged to underlying assets like the U.S. dollar, as “giving more confidence to larger buyers.”
And Franklin Lacroix, director of investment success at the crypto app SwissBorg, attributed part of the recent surge to “strong institutional inflows” into spot Bitcoin ETFs, which saw investors buy up $329 million of the assets over the past 24 hours, according to data from SoSoValue.
Update, May 21, 2025: Changed the headline and first paragraph to note that, after nearing its all-time high early Wednesday morning, Bitcoin surpassed it late morning.
