Crypto Daybook Americas: Tariff Cut Lifts Bitcoin as Market Readies for Further Gains
Global economic news is dominated by tariff adjustments. A surprise announcement of reduced U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods (from 145% to 30% for 90 days), reciprocated by China (from 125% to 10%), has sent bitcoin (BTC) briefly above $105,000. This positive sentiment is reflected in the Nasdaq futures, which jumped over 3%. Ether (ETH) shows its strongest monthly performance since November, gaining over 40% since May’s start, and the ETH/BTC ratio reached a three-month high of 0.02440. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) surpassed 101, and WTI crude oil also rallied, while gold experienced a decline of over 3%, nearing a 10% drop from its peak.
Upcoming economic data releases include Tuesday’s U.S. inflation report (expected year-over-year inflation at 2.4%), Mexico’s March industrial production data (May 12th), and April U.S. consumer price inflation data (May 13th). Argentina’s April inflation data is also expected on May 14th.
Several crypto events are noteworthy: a U.S. SEC Crypto Task Force Roundtable on tokenization (May 12th), a Singapore High Court hearing regarding WazirX (May 13th), and a Neo mainnet hard fork (May 14th). The launch of the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE) is anticipated on May 14th, and Galaxy Digital Inc. (GLXY) will begin trading on Nasdaq on May 16th. CME Group’s XRP futures launch is expected on May 19th. Trade talks between Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are scheduled for May 12th in Switzerland.
In the crypto market, a surge in animal-themed memecoins is observed, with tokens like MICHI, MOODENG, and PNUT more than doubling since Saturday. BTC perpetual futures open interest increased to almost $20 billion, indicating potential volatility. Positive funding rates for BTC and ETH suggest bullish sentiment. Several altcoins show positive cumulative volume delta, signaling buying pressure. Options market activity reveals bullish bets on SOL and BTC.
Market movements show BTC up 1.21%, ETH up 8.81%, and the CoinDesk 20 up 4.27%. The DXY is up 1.14%, while gold is down 3.22%. Major indices generally show positive movement. Spot BTC ETFs saw daily net flows of $321.4 million, and Spot ETH ETFs saw $17.6 million. MicroStrategy (MSTR) held its annual meeting, reiterating its commitment to bitcoin.
