Bitcoin (BTC) price soars above $88,00 as President Trump hints at tariff reprieve

Bitcoin sailed above $88,750 in early trading, its highest in over two weeks, before retreating to the $87,000 region late evening.

Leading cryptocurrencies continued the upward march Monday as President Donald Trump hinted at tariff reprieve for some countries.

What Happened: Bitcoin sailed above $88,750 in early trading, its highest in over two weeks, before retreating to the $87,000 region late evening. Ethereum breached $2,100 following a nearly 4% jump in the last 24 hours.

The rally hit bearish traders as over $158 million in short positions were liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the past 24 hours.

A further $600 million in shorts risked liquidation if Bitcoin breaches the $90,000 mark.

Bitcoin's Open Interest jumped 4.17% in the last 24 hours, reaching its highest level in a month. Interestingly, nearly 54% of Binance traders were positioned short as of this writing, suggesting that traders eyed a pullback.

The market sentiment remained in the "Fear" zone, according to the Crypto Fear and Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24 Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.87 trillion, following an increase of 1.70% in the last 24 hours.

Stocks started the fresh trading week in a strong note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 597.97 points, or 1.42%, to close at 42,583.32. The S&P 500 spiked 1.76%, ending at 5,767.57. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed 2.27% higher at 18,188.59.

The rally came after Trump hinted that "a lot of countries" may get tariff relief. He reiterated that reciprocal tariffs are expected to be announced on April 2, but indicated some flexibility.

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Analyst Notes: Influential cryptocurrency analyst and trader Rekt Capital highlighted Bitcoin's attempts at reclaiming $88,451 as support.

"Reclaim the 21-EMA as support and Bitcoin will be able to break out to ~$93,500," the analyst projected.

#BTC Bitcoin is now knocking on the door of the 21-Week EMA (green), trying to reclaim it as support to confirm even more upsideReclaim the 21-EMA as support and Bitcoin will be able to breakout to ~$93500$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin https://t.co/pzB0n0ig1a pic.twitter.com/wvAsPpL4Ow

Popular on-chain blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, however, cautioned about the leverage-driven Bitcoin pump.

With Open Interest hitting record levels amid BTC's surge to $87,500, the risk of liquidation cascades also increased, CryptoQuant stated.

"If the rally continues, the FOMO could fuel a parabolic move. But if bulls lose control, expect a sharp correction as over-leveraged positions get wiped out."

BTC Market Alert: Leverage-driven pump"Open Interest (OI) hit record levels above $32B as BTC price surges near $87.5K. But here's the catch: High OI + Rapid Price Increase = Risk of Liquidation Cascades!" – By @IT_Tech_PL Full post ⤵️https://t.co/BzEOKHgPLI pic.twitter.com/DHL0MGedSR

Photo by SvetlanaParnikova on Shutterstock

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