Crypto Market Pauses as Bessent Warns of Long U.S.-China Trade Negotiations

The cryptocurrency market experienced a slight pause in momentum on Wednesday after Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary, remarked that a final trade agreement between Washington and Beijing could take several years to finalize.

Bitcoin (BTC) saw a moderate rise of 2.6% over the last 24 hours and 12.2% over the past week, reaching $93,600 — its highest level since early March. However, the altcoins outperformed Bitcoin, with the CoinDesk 20 index of top cryptocurrencies climbing 4.2% in the same period. Sui (SUI) surged by 24%, and Cardano (ADA) along with Chainlink (LINK) posted 7% gains.

Shares of crypto-related stocks also saw early gains fade throughout the day. Bitdeer (BTDR) and Core Scientific (CORZ), which specialize in crypto mining, saw their double-digit increases wane, though they still ended up 4% higher. Coinbase (COIN) and MicroStrategy (MSTR) posted more modest increases of 2.1% and 1.4%, respectively.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump seemed to soften his stance on China, signaling potential tariff reductions. Despite this, Bessent reiterated that no agreement was in place yet and that a comprehensive resolution could take two to three years to fully achieve.

“Until the Xi-Trump summit brings forward a more substantial deal, we’ll likely see extended negotiations,” explained Paul Howard, a director at crypto trading firm Wincent. He noted that the market has already priced in the adversarial rhetoric, limiting risk appetite among investors.

“Once both sides settle on more favorable terms, the market could rebound, and that would benefit risk assets like crypto,” Howard added.

Institutional Bitcoin Inflows Surge

In a positive development for Bitcoin, U.S.-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw an influx of $1.3 billion in net inflows this week, according to data from SoSoValue. The strongest inflows occurred on Tuesday, making it the largest ETF inflow day since mid-January.

“This surge in institutional investment shows that Bitcoin is gaining traction as a long-term asset, not just as a speculative vehicle,” commented Matt Mena, a strategist at 21Shares, a crypto-focused investment firm. “With rising uncertainty in traditional financial markets, Bitcoin is becoming a more attractive safe-haven option.”

Despite the influx of institutional capital, Mena also warned that Bitcoin may face resistance around the $95,000 price level, suggesting a potential pullback before breaking past this critical point.

Gold’s Decline Could Open the Door for Bitcoin

While Bitcoin’s price climbed, gold saw a 2.5% drop, trading at $3,290 per ounce after experiencing a 35% rally over the past four months, reaching $3,500. The slowdown in gold’s performance might indicate that investor attention is shifting, potentially in favor of Bitcoin.

Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole Investments, shared a chart on X comparing Bitcoin’s price movements to gold’s, showing a delayed correlation. According to Edwards, Bitcoin may soon follow a similar path to gold as it becomes increasingly recognized as “digital gold.”

“Bitcoin is showing strong bullish momentum,” Edwards posted. “As it decouples from traditional risk assets, Bitcoin is positioning itself as the ultimate hedge against future inflation or quantitative easing (QE) initiatives.”