By Elsa Ohlen
Cryptocurrency-related stocks rose Thursday as Bitcoin gained momentum on hopes of easing global trade tensions.
Crypto trading platform operators Robinhood and Coinbase rose 4.8% and 4%, respectively, in early trading. MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, gained 4.1%.
Block, a financial-technology company that also holds Bitcoin for investment purposes, rose 1.2%.
Early Thursday, Bitcoin traded around $99,500, again nearing the psychologically important level of $100,000 for the first time since February.
The crypto rally comes as trade tensions appear to be easing. President Donald Trump has said a big trade announcement is coming Thursday, which several media outlets have reported to be a U.S.-U.K. trade framework.
The deal would be the first such agreement since Trump announced sweeping so-called reciprocal tariffs on April 2, in what he referred to as "Liberation Day." The bulk of tariffs were put on a 90-day pause shortly after being announced.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is also set to meet Chinese counterparts in Switzerland this week to discuss economic and trade matters.
Coinbase, the biggest crypto exchange in the U.S., on Thursday has agreed to acquire Deribit, the world's biggest trading platform for Bitcoin and Ether options, for $2.9 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing executives at the company. Coinbase is set to report first-quarter earnings after the bell Thursday.
Companies such as Tesla and GameStop, have also dabbled in crypto investments. In the last quarter of 2024, Tesla reported a boost to its profits due to a gain in digital assets, however some of those gains reversed in the last reported quarter as the value of the assets fell. Shares of Tesla and GameStop were also up early Thursday as the benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.6%.
Write to Elsa Ohlen at elsa.ohlen@barrons.com
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May 08, 2025 09:49 ET (13:49 GMT)
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