Bitcoin (BTC) continued its spring rally on Friday and is on track for its strongest weekly showing since Trump’s election victory.

The largest and oldest cryptocurrency held around $95,000 during U.S. afternoon hours, up 1.8% over the past 24 hours. Ethereum’s ether (ETH) followed closely, gaining 2% to hover just over $1,800. Sui’s native (SUI), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Hedera’s HBAR led gains in the broad-market crypto benchmark CoinDesk 20 Index.

Today’s gains cap an exceptional momentum for crypto markets recovering from the early April lows amid tariff turmoil. BTC is up over 11% since Monday, putting it at its largest weekly gain since November 2024, when Donald Trump clinched the U.S. presidency, kickstarting a broad-market crypto rally.

Read more: Bitcoin Traders Target $95K in Near Term; SUI Continues Multiday Rally

Investor appetite from ETF investors also bounced back strongly: U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $2.68 billion in net inflows this week so far, the largest since December, according to SoSoValue data. (Friday inflow data will be published later.)

BTC decoupling

Bitcoin’s recent strength relative to U.S. stocks and gold underscores BTC’s decoupling from traditional macro assets, said David Duong, Coinbase Institutional’s global head of research.

«It’s rare to witness market inflection points in real time, as we only tend to recognize major regime shifts with the benefit of time and reflection,» Duong said in a Friday report. «This week’s decoupling of bitcoin’s performance from that of traditional macro assets may be as close as we come to such a moment.»

«In our view, this divergence highlights bitcoin’s maturing role as a store-of-value asset—one that is increasingly being viewed by institutional and retail investors alike as resilient against the macroeconomic forces affecting risk assets more broadly,» he wrote.

Doung noted that the thesis is gaining traction with more companies adopting BTC corporate treasuries. Following the success of Michael Saylor’s Strategy, Twenty One Capital, a new firm backed by Tether, Bitfinex, SoftBank, and a Cantor Fitzgerald affiliate, also plans to hold 42,000 BTC at launch.

Due in part to recent accumulation, liquidity in the spot BTC market has been «significantly drained,» Dr. Kirill Kretov, lead strategist at trading automation platform CoinPanel, said in a Telegram note. According to the firm’s proprietary blockchain analysis, a large portion of bitcoin liquidity has been withdrawn from actively transacting addresses, including exchanges, since November 2024, exposing markets to volatile price swings.

“The market is thin, vulnerable, and easily moved by large players,» Kretov said. «Sharp swings of 10% up or down are likely to remain the norm for now.»

Bitcoin’s route to fresh records

While the route could be choppy, this week’s rally is likely the early innings of bitcoin’s next leg higher to new records, said John Glover, chief investment officer of crypto lender Ledn.

Based on his technical analysis using Elliott Waves, he said BTC began the fifth and final wave of its multi-year bull market.

Elliott Wave theory suggests asset prices move in predictable patterns called waves, driven by collective investor psychology. These patterns typically unfold in five-wave trends, in which the first, third, and fifth waves are impulsive rallies, while the second and fourth waves are corrective phases.

While retesting this month’s low at $75,000 cannot be ruled out, Glover sees BTC climbing to a cycle top around late 2025, early 2026.

«My expectations continue to be for a rally to $133-$136k into the end of this year, beginning of next,” he said.

Read more: Bitcoin Whales Return in Force, Buy the BTC Price Rally, On-Chain Data Show

The Swiss National Bank has rejected holding bitcoin reserves, citing concerns over cryptocurrency market liquidity and volatility.

«For cryptocurrencies, market liquidity, even if it may seem ok at times, is especially during crises naturally called into question,” said SNB President Martin Schlegel at the bank’s General Assembly meeting Friday.

“Cryptocurrencies also are known for their high volatility, which is a risk for long term value preservation. In short, one can say that cryptocurrencies for the moment do not fulfill the high requirements for our currency reserves.”

Schlegel’s comments were prompted by the Bitcoin Initiative, a bitcoin advocacy group whose research demonstrates that adding bitcoin to Switzerland’s treasury would complement its overall portfolio and yield substantial return with minimal volatility. 

Without bitcoin, the Swiss National Bank’s investments grew by about 10% since 2015. A 1% bitcoin allocation to the central bank’s portfolio would have nearly doubled returns over the same period, according to a Bitcoin Initiative portfolio simulation. Annualized volatility would have increased only slightly.

The Bitcoin Initiative emphasized that bitcoin’s volatility should not be evaluated in isolation, but in terms of its influence on the overall dynamics and performance of the investment portfolio.

“[Bitcoin] price reached new highs, it showed resilience under market stress, and it continues to be highly liquid with trading volumes in the double digit billions, every day and night, even on bank holidays,” said Luzius Meisser, a member of the Bitcoin Initiative and board member of Bitcoin Suisse.

“The Bitcoin network remains one of the most reliable and secure IT systems ever created. And most remarkably, the United States has started a strategic bitcoin stockpile.”

In an emailed statement to CoinDesk, the Bitcoin Initiative suggested the Swiss National Bank’s aversion to bitcoin might be political, as it could be perceived as “an expression of distrust towards other currencies” and harm delicate relations between Switzerland and the European Union.

European Central Bank President Christine LaGarde has consistently criticized bitcoin, calling it “worth nothing” and a “highly speculative asset” linked to money laundering. In January, Lagarde said “I’m confident” that “bitcoins will not enter the reserves of any of the central banks of the General Council” of the ECB.

That was in response to comments made by Czech National Bank Governor Ales Michl that his institution was evaluating adding bitcoin to its reserves. LaGarde argued that bitcoin fails to meet the ECB’s criteria for liquidity, security, and safety from criminal associations.

In February, Poland’s central bank ruled out “keeping reserves in bitcoins under any circumstances” and the Romanian central bank warned banks not to issue loans to crypto companies.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said in December 2024 that the U.S. central bank was “not allowed to own bitcoin” per the Federal Reserve Act and it’s not looking to change the law.

The Swiss National Bank has indirect bitcoin exposure through stocks that own corporate bitcoin treasuries, including 520,000 shares of Strategy, 8.12 million shares of Tesla, 580,000 shares of MARA Holdings, and 500,000 shares of CleanSpark, as of the end of 2024 according to Fintel data.

Schlegel rejected citizen calls to add bitcoin reserves to the Swiss central bank’s coffers as recently as last month. When it comes to technological advancements, Schlegel noted Thursday that the SNB is running a pilot project using central bank digital currencies to facilitate payments between financial institutions.

By contrast, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order this year that establishes a strategic bitcoin reserve and crypto stockpile, along with a Crypto Council that will evaluate budget neutral ways to supplement U.S. digital reserves. The order further prohibits government agencies from creating or promoting a central bank digital currency in the United States out of privacy concerns for citizens.

Consensus, one of the leading events in the crypto conference calendar, will take place in Miami, Florida, CoinDesk announced today.
Consensus 2026 will take place May 5-7 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The first Consensus was in 2015, starting in New York City. The event went virtual during the pandemic lockdown before moving to Austin, Texas in 2022, 2023 and 2024. This February, CoinDesk held its first Consensus in Hong Kong, attracting more than 10,000 attendees.
Consensus 2025, the North American flagship event, will take place in Toronto May 14-16, featuring headline speakers such as Eric Trump, Charles Hoskinson and Sergey Nazarov. Up to 15,000 people are expected, according to the organizers.

«We are excited to announce that the Consensus conference will be relocating to Miami in 2026,” said Michael Lau, Consensus Chairman.
“As a leading tech and crypto hub, Miami provides an exceptional setting for innovation and collaboration. Its vibrant culture, strategic location, and international connectivity make it an ideal destination for participants from around the world.
“The largest industry-wide conference across the Americas, Consensus in Miami will serve as a pivotal meeting point for innovators and leaders, facilitating the most consequential conversations and business opportunities in this thriving metropolis.»
Tickets for Consensus Miami will go on sale during Consensus 2025 in Toronto.