Bitcoin Jumps Above $97K as Traders Optimistic U.S.-China Trade Deal Possible

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading above $97,000 during the Asian morning hours as the market breathes a sigh of relief that the U.S. and China are said to be working on a trade deal, even if the market is also skeptical that a deal will be reached this month.

"The U.S. has proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to hold discussions on the tariff issue," China state media posted on social media.

Dogecoin (DOGE) led gains among majors with a 4% rise in the past 24 hours. Cardano's ADA, XRP, ether (ETH) and BNB rose between 1-3%, with the broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20) rising 2.2%.

Movement's MOVE extended losses to 21% as the company confirmed founder Rushi Manche had been suspended following a CoinDesk exposé of possible token manipulation involving the 21-year-old.

On Polymarket, bettors are skeptical that a deal will come this month, giving it only a 20% chance of happening by June. Bettors are likely concerned that the hawkish rhetoric from the White House means a deal may take longer than a month to be reached.

The speed and intensity of the tariffs the White House announced earlier this year panicked the market, leading to a significant drop in BTC's price, but with this apparent trade detente, $100,000 bitcoin is back on the agenda.

Other crypto metrics are looking healthy, market observers say, putting $100K bitcoin in sight.

"Momentum continues to build across crypto with spot flows broadening, alt activity heating up and subtle but meaningful shifts in market structure," trading and technology group Flowdesk said in a recent market note.

"As BTC ranges above $90K, undercurrents of risk appetite are growing stronger within both spot and derivative markets. Liquidity remains strong with rising volumes, surging weekend activity, and improving altcoin depth. At the same time, broad-based spot buying continues, led by speculative alts and AI tokens, alongside $1.5B in Bitcoin ETF inflows as institutional demand grows," Flowdesk also wrote.

The market is also likely optimistic about Strategy's continued BTC buys, and push towards further institutionalization.

As CoinDesk recently reported, Michael Saylor announced that Strategy is raising $21 billion for more BTC buys.

In a recent note, Presto Research said investors are increasingly impressed by Strategy’s growing institutional sophistication, highlighted by new valuation frameworks like BTC Torque and a strong focus on accurately pricing its fixed-income instruments.

Kava milestone pushes AI tokens higher

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tokens are in the green on Friday as the market reacts positively to news from Kava Labs that it hit 100K users of its decentralized AI platform.

Data from CoinGecko shows the market segment is up 3%, beating the CoinDesk 20, a measure of the performance of the largest digital assets, which is up by 1.8%.

"People are turning to Kava AI because it offers two things most platforms don’t, verifiability and privacy," Kava Labs' Scott Stuart said to CoinDesk in an email. "That includes users who are deeply embedded in Web3 as well as those simply seeking an alternative to opaque, centralized AI systems."

Interest in Kava and decentralized AI growing globally, Stuart said, as more users recognize the value of AI that’s both decentralized and transparent, not reliant on a black-box model governed by a handful of corporations.