Bitcoin has surged by 4.7%, reaching $101K, a level not seen since February. Ethereum has also experienced a boost, climbing nearly 15%.

Positive sentiment from Trump’s trade announcement with the UK and potential favourable talks with China have encouraged market optimism. There is anticipation that more positive news will emerge over the weekend.

Bitcoin’s recent stability has laid the groundwork for its current uptrend. A past tweet stirred a brief rally for certain coins, leading to further discourse.

The tweet, which came from Trump promoting a “Crypto Strategic Reserve,” caused initial excitement but later frustration for him. It was discovered that a lobbyist connected to Ripple Labs influenced the tweet, causing Trump to feel manipulated.

He later expressed dissatisfaction with Brian Ballard, whose lobby shop was tied to the incident. This event provides insights into the inner workings and decision-making processes within the White House.

What we’re looking at here is a rapid market response to a blend of political gestures and technical indicators. The rise above $101K for Bitcoin is notable not just because it’s a high watermark not seen since February, but also because it wasn’t accompanied by aggressive volatility. This makes the current upward shift look more like a structured rally rather than a brief speculative burst.

Ethereum’s 15% rise is striking in its own right, especially considering it has trailed Bitcoin in momentum through much of the year. That it would outpace Bitcoin at this stage hints that cash is flowing into second-tier assets again, often a sign traders are growing confident. When we see such shifts in capital distribution — from dominant coins into those further down the line — it often reflects a belief that strong performance will broaden further out.

Now, cast your eyes to the source of this latest wave: trade-talk optimism and political theatre. A policy announcement involving the UK, coupled with speculation around diplomatic ease with China, moved sentiment in a clear direction. The primary takeaway isn’t what was said — which was vague in real substance — but how people felt about it. In markets driven by perception, feelings matter more than words.

Then came the tweet. The “Crypto Strategic Reserve” comment, while short-lived in its direct impact, might be best thought of as a spark to already dry tinder. It caused a reaction across several mid-level tokens, which jumped before quickly flattening when the back story began to emerge. The involvement of a lobbyist with connections to particular blockchain developers was interpreted as orchestrated rather than organic, and the attempt at influence irritated the originator.

Ballard’s name appears here not just because of his proximity to power, but because of how influence channels are now part of financial news. This isn’t merely gossip — it reflects how policy meets markets through personal networks, and how decisions can be steered without formal announcements. That’s a pattern we’ve seen more of recently, and we should be treating it as an input just like chart patterns or volume spikes.

For our purposes, then, the picture ahead becomes clearer. A fairly healthy base was established during the period of sideways trading earlier in the month, and this breakout occurred without over-leveraged conditions. As such, volatility hasn’t flared dramatically, and we haven’t yet seen historic levels of open interest or aggressive funding shifts.

Volume has ticked higher on perpetual contracts, showing that traders moved in rather than held back. But positions appear more balanced at the moment, rather than being skewed to one side. That balance gives breathing room for trends to develop further before we hit liquidation cascades — which, frankly, have been absent for most of the past week.

Those watching derivatives will want to take particular note of skew: recent options activity shows a narrowing of the risk premium on out-of-the-money calls. That’s a shift from the strong preference for downside protection that dominated earlier this quarter. It tells us that hedging behaviour has softened — not disappeared, but mellowed.

And then there’s timing. Weekends used to be unpredictable, but since last summer we’ve observed growing retail involvement during those sessions. Combine that with the belief that more news may break shortly, and you have conditions that could justify short-term positioning ahead of Saturday. But caution remains — especially if funding begins to swing too far in one direction.

As we saw with the tweet-induced jump earlier, catalysts arrive suddenly and sometimes with very little substance behind them. These short-lived jolts can be useful for swing entries, but not the basis for heavy allocation. Traders should be more attuned now to who says what, and when. Not because it’s always impactful, but because the reaction often is.

We monitor open interest to ensure leverage hasn’t shifted dangerously. We keep one eye on the breakouts, and another on the resistance levels reinforced back in January. And above all, we remain alert to when narratives shift — not only in content, but in tone. If the last few days have shown anything, it’s that tone travels fastest.