Bitcoin tops $111,300 as Trump says China trade deal coming ‘pretty soon’

Bitcoin’s price rebounded above $111,300 on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would cut tariffs on China, following his meeting with Xi Jinping earlier in the day in Busan, South Korea.

According to The Block’s bitcoin price page, the world’s largest cryptocurrency is trading at around $111,301, bouncing back from a low of around $108,500 earlier on Thursday. Despite the rebound, bitcoin remains down 2% in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin initially declined after the Trump-Xi meeting concluded without an immediate trade-related announcement. Presto Research Associate Min Jung told The Block that most of the developments had already been priced in, and the absence of a joint press conference indicated no major breakthroughs.

The market appears to have gained upward momentum after Trump told reporters on an Air Force One leaving South Korea that the U.S. would lower China tariffs from 20% to 10%. The tariffs were imposed as punishment for selling fentanyl-related chemicals, according to AP news.

Trump reportedly said a trade deal with China could come “pretty soon,” describing the meeting as a “12” on a scale of zero to 10.

The Independent reported that Trump said “all rare earth issues” have been settled with China, adding that there are no more roadblocks from China to reach a trade deal.

Outlook still uncertain

However, analysts said the trade-related macroeconomic outlook remains unclear, leaving room for further volatility in the near term.

“We have only heard what Trump said, China hasn’t come out to confirm anything,” said Derek Lim, research lead at Caladan. “For stuff like rare earth, we will need confirmation from China. There is still uncertainty there.”

Lim also mentioned that there were surprise dissenting votes at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting yesterday, which called for no interest rate cut. While rates were reduced by 25 basis points, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said it is uncertain whether the central bank will make another rate cut in the next meeting in December.

“This brought about uncertainty to the markets,” Lim added.

Caladan’s Lim also said he does not see a clear catalyst for traders to watch next, as the most vital ones — bullish market structure, rate cuts, and the ending of quantitative tightening — are already in play.

Meanwhile, Vincent Liu, CIO at Kronos Research, said prices in the near term will depend on liquidity and macro positioning rather than headlines alone.

“Positioning and liquidity will drive near-term moves, with inflation surprises likely to spark sharper crypto volatility,” Liu said.

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