Bitcoin Price Rises as U.S. and China Set to Start Trade Talks

By Elsa OhlenBitcoin price rose early Wednesday as hopes of a de-escalation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China trade lifted cryptocurrencies.Bitcoin has climbed 3.6% to $97,014 over the last 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. Ether rose 3.8%, XRP climbed 2.1% and Solana gained 3.3%.The benchmark S&P 500 was up 0.3% in morning trading."We don't want to decouple [with China], what we want is fair trade," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on Fox News late Tuesday. "We've agreed to talk."Cryptocurrencies tend to suffer in an uncertain economic climate, such as during a trade war as investors prefer safe-haven assets like low-risk bonds and gold. If the U.S. and China starts moving toward a trade deal, that could significantly reduce uncertainty in markets and calm investors' nerves.The U.S. currently has a 145% levy on most imported goods from China while Beijing has imposed a 125% tax on U.S. goods.Bessent, together with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, will meet Chinese officials this week in Switzerland to discuss the matter."My sense is that this will be about de-escalation, not about the big trade deal but we've got to de-escalate before we can move forward," Bessent said.Trade talks weren't the only thing boosting crypto sentiment Wednesday.New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed a bill Tuesday allowing the state to invest up to 5% in digital assets and precious metals. It's the first U.S. state to approve a crypto reserve law.The bill only allows investment in digital assets with a market capitalization of over $500 billion — effectively excluding all digital coins but Bitcoin at current prices. Bitcoin has a market value of $1.9 trillion while Ether, the world's second largest crypto, has a market cap of about $220 billion."New Hampshire is once again First in the Nation," Governor Ayotte wrote in a post on X.President Donald Trump's pro-crypto stance has been celebrated by many digital assets enthusiasts.Bitcoin reached a record high of $109,000 in the month following Trump's re-election on hopes that he'd appoint a new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and create a strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies.Write to Elsa Ohlen at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.