KEY POINTS
- $BTC surged above $103,000 Thursday but failed to erase its previous all-time highs
- $ETH was the largest gainer among Top 10 crypto coins, surging by 20% in the day
- $XRP also climbed, buoyed by the news and the SEC’s official closure of its Ripple lawsuit
The Trump administration on Thursday announced a trade deal with the United Kingdom, triggering a wild uptick in cryptocurrency prices as crypto users celebrated the big news following weeks of market downturns due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Thursday’s trade agreement with Britain is the first of such deals since Trump launched his global trade war that hit crypto prices hard.
“Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement. Many other deals, which are in serious states of negotiation, to follow!” the Republican leader wrote on Truth Social.
Bitcoin Surges but Fails to Hit New ATH
As news of the much-anticipated trade deal spread, crypto prices began moving, including Bitcoin, which has had trouble returning to the $100,000 mark.
The world’s most valuable crypto asset surged above $103,000 at one point before settling in at around $102,000 late Thursday.
Ahead of Trump’s announcement, there were expectations that BTC would smash its previous all-time-high above $108,000. At this point, Bitcoin may be waiting for even bigger news before it surges past its ATH.
Bitcoin’s big achievement in the day was passing $2 trillion in market capitalization following a difficult few weeks below the said threshold.
CoinGecko
$ETH Pumps to the Moon
While BTC’s Thursday price surge is notable, Ethereum was the biggest story of the day, outpacing Bitcoin to log the highest gains in the last 24 hours among CoinGecko’s Top 10 largest digital assets by market cap.
ETH traded as high as $2,234 at one point in the day before settling in at around $2,208. The surge represents a 20% spike in the last 24 hours.
The Ethereum blockchain’s native cryptocurrency was the only token in the Top 10 that logged an increase above 11%.
$XRP Climbs on Positive Developments
XRP, one of the most popular altcoins, was also on a significant uptick, surging 6.5% overnight as the broader crypto market was lifted by Trump’s announcement.
However, the UK trade deal may not be the only reason for the XRP token’s increase, as it could also have been lifted by news that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed to officially end its lawsuit against Ripple, the world’s largest corporate holder of XRP.
Meanwhile, other major altcoins were also in the green, ending a weeks-long losing streak as fueled by fears around Trump’s tariffs.
