Bitcoin price today: jumps to $96k but gains still limited amid economic jitters

Published 01/05/2025, 06:32
Updated 01/05/2025, 14:44
© Reuters

Investing.com-- Bitcoin jumped on Thursday, but the gains remain limited after a recent rebound ran dry amid persistent concerns over the outlook for U.S. trade tariffs and economic growth. 

The world’s largest cryptocurrency marked a strong rally through April, adding nearly 20% and wiping out its annual losses as sentiment improved from troughs seen earlier this year. 

But broader crypto markets largely lagged this rebound, given that a bulk of Bitcoin’s gains were also driven by large buying action from Michael Saylor’s Strategy and a slew of spot exchange-traded funds. 

Moreover, ETF buying was seen petering out this week, with major ETFs logging a small net outflow on Wednesday. 

Bitcoin climbed 3% to $96,330.0 by 09:37 ET (13:37 GMT). 

Bitcoin rebound stalls as ETF inflows cool 

Bitcoin steadied this week after rallying nearly 20% from annual lows in April.

Gains in the crypto were driven by a heavy dose of bargain buying, with institutional investors also seen piling into spot ETFs. 

Data from SoSoValue showed Bitcoin ETFs clocked eight straight days of outsized inflows through late-April, with inflows only slowing this week. ETFs clocked about $56.2 million of outflows on Wednesday. 

The world’s largest crypto had slumped to lows around $70,000 in March and April- its weakest levels so far in 2025- as risk appetite was eroded by heightened uncertainty around global trade and economic growth.

But some easing in this uncertainty helped spur Bitcoin’s gains, especially after President Donald Trump postponed steep reciprocal tariffs against major U.S. trading partners by 90 days.

But Trump still led the U.S. into a renewed trade war with China, dampening the global economic outlook. Softer-than-expected gross domestic product data released this week added to the anxiety, given that it showed the U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank in the first quarter.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are largely speculative in nature, meaning that they move more on sentiment than actual fundamentals. This trend is expected to weigh on crypto in the coming weeks, especially if sentiment towards the U.S. economy worsens. 

Abu Dhabi firm uses Trump’s stablecoin for $2bln investment in Binance

In other crypto-related developments, Donald Trump’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, is seeing its stablecoin USD1 play a key role in a major investment deal.

The dollar-pegged token will be used by Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX to fund a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance, according to one of World Liberty’s co-founders.

USD1, which is backed by U.S. Treasuries and other cash-equivalent assets, was unveiled in March as part of World Liberty’s effort to offer financial access without traditional intermediaries like banks. The token is issued on Binance’s blockchain.

Speaking at a crypto conference in Dubai, World Liberty co-founder Witkoff confirmed the token’s involvement in the high-profile deal. “We are excited to announce today that USD1 has been selected as the official stablecoin to close MGX’s $2 billion investment in Binance,” said Witkoff, who is also the son of Trump’s former envoy Steve Witkoff.

The deal underlines the growing presence of World Liberty in the digital asset space and its close ties with Binance.

Crypto price today: altcoins track Bitcoin gains

Broader crypto prices tracked Bitcoin’s gains Thursday, extending their strong April performance. World no.2 crypto Ether rose 4% to $1,836.04 after vastly lagging its major crypto peers in April.

XRP added 3%, while Solana and Cardano rose between 3% and 7%. 

Among meme tokens, $TRUMP jumped 4.7%, while Dogecoin climbed 4.1%. 

Ambar Warrick contributed to this report. 

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