Bitcoin Tops $102K for First Time Since January: ETFs in Focus

Bitcoin surged past the $102,000-mark for the first time since January, buoyed by growing optimism around U.S. trade negotiations, Coinbase’s COIN Deribit Acquisition, and soaring institutional interest. Bitcoin is up over 7% for the week as Trump pushed for trade deals.

Bitcoin-based exchange-trade funds (ETFs) like Wisdomtree Bitcoin Fund BTCW, Coinshares Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund BRRR, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund FBTC, iShares Bitcoin Trust IBIT, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF GBTC and Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF BTCO have been hovering around a three-month high.

Let’s delve a little deeper.

Major Trade Deals Ahead?

President Trump's announcement of a new trade agreement with the UK and his upbeat comments on future negotiations with China spread cheers around the investing world and the risk-on sentiments.

Trump introduced a new US-UK trade deal on Thursday, describing it as a major step toward increased market access, worth billions of dollars, for American products, especially in agriculture. The agreement includes expanded opportunities for U.S. exports of beef, ethanol and other farm goods.

Secretary Bessent stated that the upcoming discussions would focus on de-escalating tensions. The news was enough to boost market sentiment across risk assets, including Bitcoin.

Coinbase’s Deribit Acquisition Lifts Crypto Sentiment

Boosting optimism further, Coinbase COIN announced its $2.9 billion acquisition of crypto options exchange Deribit. The deal was viewed as a vote of confidence in the crypto sector and helped push Bitcoin higher.

Meanwhile, Coinbase came up with quarterly earnings of $1.94 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85. The company posted revenues of $2.03 billion in the quarter, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.12%. 

From Liberation Day Crash to Recovery

Bitcoin had previously dropped to $75,000 following Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, which shocked markets. However, the asset has rebounded sharply as risk-on sentiment improved and equity markets stabilized.

Standard Chartered: $120K May Be Too Conservative

Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick, who previously forecast Bitcoin hitting $120,000 in Q2, now says that target might be too low, citing a surge in institutional inflows and capital reallocation away from U.S. assets, as quoted on CNBC.

Kendrick noted the evolving narrative around Bitcoin. Once linked to risky assets and later seen as a strategic hedge, Bitcoin is now primarily driven by the sheer volume of inflows. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs alone have seen $5.3 billion in inflows over the last three weeks.

Kendrick reaffirmed his longer-term target of $200,000 by year-end 2025, driven by asset diversification and continued accumulation by “whales.”

Growing Institutional Interest

Institutional interest continues to support Bitcoin’s rally. Kendrick pointed to prominent institutions entering the space, including MicroStrategy’s MSTR continued Bitcoin accumulation, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund investing in iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), and the Swiss National Bank purchasing MicroStrategy shares.

With MicroStrategy often viewed as a proxy for Bitcoin, these moves signal deepening institutional conviction. MSTR shares rose 5.6% on May 8, 2025. Defiance Daily Target 2x Long MSTR ETF MSTX surged 11.5% on May 8 and hit a three-month high.

Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani reported that roughly 80 companies now hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets — collectively owning about 3.4% of total BTC supply. He highlighted this as a sign of growing long-term support from corporate treasuries, as quoted on Yahoo Finance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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