Cryptocurrencies surged significantly on Monday, following a general upward trend among risk-on assets. This rise was fueled by investor optimism about the easing of U.S. trade tariffs, prompted by positive signals from the White House and other encouraging economic indicators. Bitcoin regained a valuation around $87,350, rising by 2.2% within 24 hours. Ethereum and Solana also showed strong performances. This improvement followed slightly better-than-expected U.S. inflation data, alleviating concerns about stagflation linked to tariff measures imposed by Donald Trump. Despite Trump’s public support for the crypto industry, notably through the establishment of a special Bitcoin reserve, markets remain cautious about the complex impacts of his trade policies on global growth.

From a technical standpoint, Monday’s increase allowed Bitcoin to move back above its 200-day moving average, previously acting as significant resistance. This has rekindled optimism about a possible return to a bullish market after a disappointing first quarter of 2025.

Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, saw its stock rise by 7%, reaching $203. Publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies followed a similar trajectory, with CleanSpark, specializing in low-carbon mining, jumping over 18%, Riot Platforms rising around 10%, and MARA Holdings gaining 18%, confirming the sector’s overall positive momentum.

U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their seventh consecutive day of net inflows on Monday, totaling $84 million for that day alone. This significant turnaround follows several weeks of substantial outflows in February and early March, highlighting renewed institutional investor confidence in cryptocurrencies. According to BTC Markets analyst Rachael Lucas, this positive streak signals a shift in market sentiment. Fidelity’s FBTC led with nearly $83 million in net inflows, followed by Bitwise’s BITB at $19.23 million and BlackRock’s IBIT at $18 million. Conversely, ARKB by Ark and 21Shares experienced outflows of $41 million, slightly offsetting the overall positive flows. Collectively, Bitcoin ETFs accumulated approximately $860.6 million in net inflows over seven days, raising their total cumulative inflow to $36.13 billion. This favorable trend primarily reflects more optimistic macroeconomic conditions, including anticipated monetary easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve and Trump’s recent statements supporting interest rate cuts. Additionally, a more flexible regulatory stance from the SEC and XRP’s recent court victory have also reassured markets.

Despite the evident recent correlation, Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, criticized the widespread notion of Bitcoin being inherently risky. He argued that this negative reputation largely stems from the cryptocurrency industry’s own narrative, often equating Bitcoin with traditional, volatile stock-market assets. In a recent CNBC interview, Mitchnick emphasized Bitcoin’s unique features—global reach, scarcity, independence from governments, and decentralization—which should distinguish it from typical “risk-on” assets. He believes the industry has unintentionally reinforced perceptions of Bitcoin as vulnerable to economic conditions. Mitchnick also disputes the idea that a severe economic downturn would negatively impact Bitcoin’s value, suggesting instead that a recession might boost the cryptocurrency’s role as “digital gold.” He noted that despite current volatility, Bitcoin remains up approximately 15% since last November, supporting his optimism about its long-term potential.

Kentucky recently enacted House Bill 701, explicitly protecting citizens’ rights to self-custody their cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. This law allows users to maintain their digital assets in personal wallets without interference or discrimination by local authorities, ensuring complete autonomy over their funds. Passed unanimously by both legislative chambers, the bill clarifies the legal status of mining and staking rewards, stating explicitly that these rewards are not securities. Additionally, blockchain node operations and staking activities are exempt from local money transmission regulations. Kentucky is also reviewing House Bill 376, proposing the creation of a state crypto reserve, allowing investment of up to 10% of excess reserves into digital assets with market caps above $750 billion. Kentucky’s initiative aligns with a broader trend in the U.S., where approximately one-third of states are considering or implementing strategies to allocate public funds into digital assets. Utah and New Mexico, for example, propose allocations of up to 5% in specific digital assets, though states like Montana and Pennsylvania have rejected similar initiatives.

Tether, the leading stablecoin issuer, is currently engaging with one of the “Big Four” international audit firms (PwC, EY, Deloitte, and KPMG) to independently verify its financial reserves. This follows longstanding criticisms regarding the transparency of the real assets backing its stablecoin, USDT. The company, now based in El Salvador, has historically struggled to secure a major international audit firm to officially certify its reserves. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed these ongoing discussions to Reuters. Currently, Tether’s assets are held by Cantor Fitzgerald, a firm headed by newly appointed U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. USDT remains the most widely used stablecoin in crypto markets and is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, primarily due to its ability to facilitate rapid trading between crypto-assets without traditional financial intermediaries.

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, recently surpassed holding 500,000 bitcoins after purchasing an additional 6,911 bitcoins last week. The company now owns 506,137 bitcoins valued at approximately $44.2 billion, averaging a purchase price of $84,500 per bitcoin, slightly above previous averages. To finance these acquisitions, Strategy sold nearly two million Class A common shares, raising approximately $593 million. This sale is part of an ongoing equity issuance program launched in October, through which the company can still sell an additional $3.57 billion in shares. Furthermore, Strategy raised $1.1 million through issuing a new financial product, Strike (STRK), offering an 8% cumulative annual dividend payable in cash or shares.

The Bitcoin market is signaling a bullish return after months of difficulty, notably driven by the “Hash Ribbon” indicator, which issued its first buy signal in eight months. Created by Capriole Investments, this tool assesses miner profitability via hashrate to identify the end of “capitulation” phases when less profitable miners exit. On March 24, the indicator formally confirmed the conclusion of the recent capitulation phase, sparking a “macro bullish” signal among analysts. Historically, Hash Ribbon buy signals have preceded significant mid-term Bitcoin price increases. Analysts like Robert Mercer predict Bitcoin may surpass $100,000 as early as the second quarter of 2025. This optimism is reinforced by other positive technical indicators, including the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which recently broke a prolonged downtrend, confirming its first bullish divergence in several months.
 

Thus, following a sluggish start to the year, these combined technical signals suggest renewed optimism and a potential upward phase for Bitcoin in the coming months.

The presented information is as of March 25th, 2025, unless otherwise indicated and is provided for information purposes only. The information comes from sources that we believe are reliable, but not guaranteed. This statement does not provide financial, legal or tax advice. Rivemont Investments are not responsible for any errors or omissions in the information or for any loss or damage suffered.