Beginning the week with a robust climb, Bitcoin surged beyond the $105,000 level amid fresh optimism for the future of U.S.-China trade relations. While Bitcoin continues its amazing climb, the altcoin market showed a mixed result, with some coins soaring alongside BTC and others retreating under investor caution.
Bitcoin Rally Gains Momentum
Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest and most influential cryptocurrency, crossed $105,000 in early trading on Monday, its highest level in several weeks. The surge follows renewed diplomatic progress between the United States and China, leading investors to adopt a more risk-on stance. Improved sentiment around global trade has helped boost confidence in speculative assets, including digital currencies.
According to analysts, macroeconomic developments and growing institutional interest support Bitcoin’s upward momentum. Standard Chartered recently forecasted a long-term target of $500,000 for Bitcoin, citing the potential impact of reduced volatility and expanded institutional access through U.S.-based spot Bitcoin ETFs.
These ETFs, launched in January 2024, have channeled billions into the Bitcoin market, giving retail and institutional investors direct exposure to the asset without needing to custody the tokens themselves. Since their debut, they’ve been widely credited with strengthening Bitcoin’s demand base and contributing to its current rally.
Crypto Market Volatility
Although Bitcoin has led the way, the image of other cryptocurrencies is more diversified.
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, Ethereum (ETH), increased strongly over the weekend, more than 8%, to approach about $2,500. Along with fresh investor interest in the Ethereum 2.0 roadmap, which seeks to increase scalability and lower transaction costs, Ethereum’s recent performance is ascribed to ongoing distributed finance breakthroughs (DeFi).
Not all altcoins, meanwhile, tracked Ethereum’s course. Initially on a constant upward trend earlier in the year, Solana (SOL) fell by more than 6% over the previous 24 hours. Polygon (MATIC) also underwent a significant downturn, falling around 15% as traders made gains in the more volatile larger market.
Legal uncertainty over Ripple’s continuous dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission affects investor mood; hence, its XRP token dropped by about 4%. The token has been unable to recapture the pace observed in past bull markets, even with brief spikes earlier in 2025.
Meme coins were not spared from the mixed activity. Long seen as a gauge of retail interest, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped by more than 12%; Trump-themed meme coin $Trump tumbled an impressive 17.6%, falling to an all-time low of $16.34. These dips, mainly if macroeconomic uncertainty implies investors are rotating out of speculative assets into more established coins like BTC and ETH.
Market Optimism Boosts Bitcoin
As the U.S. and China announced developments in continuous trade negotiations, the global market mood greatly changed over the weekend. This helped to reduce some of the geopolitical concerns that had earlier shaken crypto assets and financial markets.
Concurrently, the regulatory surroundings of cryptocurrencies seem to be settling. In recent months, U.S. authorities—including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)—have modified their position to offer better structures for token classification and crypto ETFs. Even if there are still difficulties, especially in defining distributed finance rules, the better regulatory clarity attracts more institutional money.
“The surge in Bitcoin is not limited to trade optimism,” said a Galaxy Digital top strategist. “It also comes down to trust. With rising regulatory maturity and infrastructure support, Bitcoin benefits the most as investors understand that cryptocurrencies are here to stay.
Final thoughts
Notwithstanding the hope, several analysts advise caution. The sudden increase in Bitcoin price can cause temporary corrections. This is particularly true if the global economic data falls short of expectations or the negotiations between the United States and China don’t yield tangible outcomes. Others think that if a positive attitude holds and inflows into crypto ETFS speed up. Bitcoin might keep climbing toward beyond all-time highs near $120,000.
Experts predict that altcoins will remain volatile, with many traders opting to invest based on news triggers and fundamental concepts. Particularly when Ethereum reaches a crucial resistance level, people will probably be quite interested in it. Meanwhile, smaller altcoins may experience declines unless there is a broader shift towards riskier digital assets.
Right now, Bitcoin’s supremacy keeps expanding and attracts institutional and media interest. Whether this momentum can propel the whole crypto market upward is yet unknown.
