Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market are struggling to hold onto recent gains after a rollercoaster week for financial markets, marked by President Trump’s on-again, off-again trade policy.
After tumbling to a low of $74,000 on Monday, Bitcoin reached above $82,000 on Friday, recouping 11% of its value within the span of a few days after Trump backed off a significant portion of his aggressive XRP rose 20% to $1.99 after falling to $1.66 on Monday, and Solana rose 23% to $120 after falling to $97. The industry’s market cap has rebounded as well, growing to $2.59 trillion on Friday, up 10% after falling to $2.35 trillion on Monday.
“Bitcoin has been highly volatile this week, driven by the back-and-forth around global tariffs,” Youwei Yang, chief economist at crypto mining company BIT Mining, told Fortune.
This week’s initial downturn was brought on by fears about Trump’s plan to impose sweeping levies on nearly all U.S trading partners, set to kick in on Wednesday. In response, investors rushed to dump volatile assets like crypto in an attempt to brace their portfolios for the impact of tariffs.
However, hours after tariffs went into effect on Wednesday, Trump decided to reverse course, keeping a baseline levy of 10% levy intact for nearly all countries, but authorizing a 90-day pause on some other tariffs. The exception was China, which received additional tariffs bringing its total up to 145%.
The reversal had a historic impact on financial markets, leading the S&P 500 to close the day 9.5% higher, its best rally since 2008. Crypto investors were also happy with the reprieve, lifting Bitcoin by 5% in the hours immediately following the announcement.
But that lift didn’t last long—traditional markets tumbled again on Thursday, and though they gained ground on Friday, they are still down significantly since the April 2 tariff announcement. And while Bitcoin is up today, the original cryptocurrency is down 25% from its all-time high of $109,000 set in January. Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have been tumbling since the beginning of this year, dragged down by fears over Trump’s trade policy and a slowing economy.
As long as the fate of the tariffs remains unclear, investors can expect the market volatility to continue, Yang says.
“The temporary 90–day pause brought some relief, but the market remains cautious,” he said. “While this administration is pro-crypto, the broader crypto market is still searching for conviction, stuck in a bearish chop and waiting for clearer signals to regain momentum.”
