Bitcoin briefly slipped under $105,000 this week as Wall Street trembled over renewed U.S. banking jitters, but a surprisingly strong round of regional bank earnings and a dash of geopolitical détente have thrown the market a lifeline.
After tumbling more than 5% in two days, Bitcoin steadied near $106K Friday morning, tracking the mood swing in traditional finance. U.S. regional bank shares — recently the epicenter of market stress — staged a mini-comeback after lenders including Truist Financial, Regions Financial, and Fifth Third Bancorp posted better-than-feared results.
Bitcoin briefly slipped under $105,000 before recovering slightly on Friday night, Source: BNC
The key detail: those banks reported lower provisions for credit losses than analysts expected — meaning the cracks in the financial system weren’t quite as deep as the doomers predicted. That helped the S&P Regional Banks Index claw back part of Thursday’s 6.3% plunge, when fears of commercial loan frauds at Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance triggered a selloff that looked a lot like March 2023’s banking mini-crisis.
By Friday, Zions was up over 6%, Truist rose 2%, and Western Alliance gained 1.6% as traders decided maybe the sky wasn’t falling after all. Even European lenders — Barclays, Deutsche Bank — and Japan’s Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui found their footing after being hammered earlier in the week.
Analysts argued that regional banks “remain well reserved for potential losses” and that capital buffers are far stronger than last year — corporate-speak for: “everyone overreacted.”
Trump’s Trade Cooldown Boosts Sentiment
Markets also caught a tailwind from an unexpected source — politics. President Donald Trump said that his steep tariffs on Chinese goods “will not persist,” confirming plans for a summit with Xi Jinping within two weeks. Beijing responded with diplomatic warmth, and just like that, risk appetite returned. U.S. stock futures popped 1.2% as traders priced in the possibility that the world’s two biggest economies might — for once — choose conversation over confrontation.
S&P 500 futures erase losses as Trump says high tariffs on China will NOT remain. Futures are now +75 points from their overnight low, source: X
Bitcoin’s Balancing Act
Crypto traders aren’t quite ready to celebrate, though. While risk sentiment has turned less apocalyptic, Bitcoin (BTC) still can’t push decisively past $105,000. The world’s largest digital asset remains caught in a push-pull between bullish macro optimism and lingering market anxiety.
So, are we looking at the end of the bull run or just a mid-cycle breather? The evidence is mixed. On one hand, the resilience of regional banks — the same institutions that nearly triggered a banking panic last year — hints that financial stress isn’t systemic. On the other, Bitcoin’s inability to rally alongside easing credit fears suggests that traders remain wary.
If the Trump–Xi talks calm global trade tensions and U.S. banks continue to hold the line, Bitcoin could resume its climb. But if this relief rally fades — or if another financial “surprise” hits the headlines — the $100K line could be tested again.
Either way, Bitcoin is now firmly entangled with legacy finance. The world’s anti-bank asset is, ironically, moving in sync with bank stocks. That’s the kind of poetic contradiction only modern markets could produce.