During the Asian trading hours on Monday, financial markets exhibited a risk-on attitude, spurred by reports indicating that the upcoming round of Trump tariffs set for April 2 may be less severe than previously feared.
Bitcoin (BTC), the predominant digital currency by market capitalization, was priced around $86,500, reflecting an increase of 2.7% over the past 24 hours. Solana’s SOL token also saw a boost of nearly 6%, trading at $138, as per CoinDesk data.
XRP, which focuses on payment solutions, rose by 2.5%, reaching $2.44 and trading above its 50-day simple moving average (SMA) following two weeks of consistent price increases.
Futures linked to the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq were up by over 0.5% for the day, while the VIX index, a measure of market volatility, fell by 2.5% to 18.88 points. Earlier losses in Chinese markets were also reversed.
Market sentiment improved after weekend reports suggested that President Donald Trump’s anticipated “reciprocal tariffs,” expected to take effect on April 2, could be more targeted than a broad-based approach.
According to Bloomberg’s report, some countries may be exempt, and existing tariffs on steel and other metals might not be cumulative.
Trump’s tariffs had previously unsettled market sentiment in February, causing declines in both the stock and crypto markets. Bitcoin experienced a drop of nearly 17.6%, falling to under $80,000. Recent revisions in the Federal Reserve’s inflation forecasts indicated an uptick, while growth projections were lowered, likely influenced by Trump’s assertive trade measures.
Nevertheless, the Fed characterized the inflationary effects of the tariffs as transient and maintained expectations for two rate cuts this year, providing a dovish stance that may benefit risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
This action by the Fed, combined with the possibility of reduced tariffs, has rekindled bullish sentiment in the market.
“I bet $BTC hits $110k before it retests $76.5k. Why? The Fed is shifting from QT to QE concerning treasuries. And tariffs don’t concern me because of ‘transitory inflation.’ JAYPOW told me so,” stated BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, now Chief Investment Officer at Maelstrom, on X.
Key upcoming events include Friday’s PCE reading, the Fed’s favored inflation metric, and the scheduled appearances of SEC nominee Paul Atkins and Comptroller of the Currency nominee Jonathan Gould before the Senate Banking Committee on March 27.
