Bitcoin has had a wild week of major highs and lows in price, driven both by recent changes in domestic economic policy and by wider market movements. The cryptocurrency, which hit a high of $104,669 on January 30, has been under downward pressure since that time. Yet, despite the fundamentals—particularly the increase in U.S. export capacity—recent events, especially changes in American trade policy, have led to significant price swings.
And on April 2, President Trump announced a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports. The market jumped at this news. This unexpected policy decision caused an otherwise unnecessary overall market pullback. Despite the broader market's reaction, Ethereum and Bitcoin demonstrated resilience, holding relatively steady in the immediate aftermath of the announcement.
Bitcoin's Price Swings
… with Bitcoin just earlier in the week having experienced one of its worst days on record in terms of price slippage. Bitcoin fell 6.93% dollar value wise during the last Friday to Monday ($74,200 – just above the previous all-time high). The cryptocurrency saw a significant recovery, bouncing back to more than $78,000 by the end of that same day.
The volatility continued through the week. As of Thursday’s after-hours trading, Bitcoin prices were down once more – 3.43% to a little over $79,700. Just the day before, they caught a big bullish wave, soaring 8.82% to the upside. Then a drop ensued, highlighting the volatile and erratic nature of the cryptocurrency space.
Market Influences and Expert Opinions
Market analysts, including our own Larry Fish, have offered their thoughts on what’s moving the market to cause these swings. Nick Selvaggio illustrated the usual negative classic finance correlation with crypto markets.
“Typically, when we see a strong market pullback in the traditional finance world, crypto usually mirrors that,” - Nick Selvaggio
“If we see the S&P dropping like crazy, bitcoin tends to drop like crazy, as well.” - Nick Selvaggio
Mitchell O. Goldberg pointed out the proclivity of crypto markets to exacerbate the swings that we see in conventional markets.
“Whatever the Nasdaq does, or the S&P does, it does a magnified version of that,” - Mitchell O. Goldberg
Because Bitcoin’s price—for better or worse—is heavily influenced by its own internal mechanisms. Beyond the regulatory burden, broader economic trends and investor sentiment are absolutely vital.
Future Outlook
Even with this recent volatility, Bitcoin is still in a very high price zone. Having traded above $100,000 at the end of January, the price is now hovering in the $80,000 range. This level was thought to already be a far-off goal just a few years ago.
Craig Rudes highlighted the unique nature of cryptocurrencies on global markets, the one aspect that makes them different.
“The beautiful thing about cryptocurrencies is they are borderless,” - Craig Rudes
Looking forward, some analysts are predicting that Bitcoin will be seen as a safer haven asset as volatility continues in the markets. Whether Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies succeed or fail in the long term will almost certainly depend on several important factors. These are regulatory developments, technological advancements, and the state of the broader economy.
