Major cryptocurrencies rose Sunday morning as the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted at upcoming trade deals before the July 9 Liberation Day tariff deadline.
Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, gained over 1%, briefly topping $109,000. Payments-focused XRP and Solana’s SOL token gained over 2% each, with meme token dogecoin (DOGE) rising 3%, according to data source CoinDesk. Ethereum’s ether, the second-largest token, rose 1.5% to $2,550.
In an interview with CNN, Bessent stated that the U.S. is close to finalizing several trade deals ahead of the July 9 deadline, when the temporary pause in higher tariffs initially announced on April 2 is set to expire.
“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don’t move things along, then on August 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level. So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly,” Bessent said, per Reuters.
Bessent explained that July 9 remains the deadline for negotiations, failing which higher tariffs, announced in early April, will take effect from Aug. 1.
“We are saying this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice,” Bessent told CNN, adding that some countries were ‘foot-dragging’ on getting to deals.
Since taking office early this year, President Donald Trump has been focused on making the U.S. wealthy again by imposing tariffs on goods imported from other countries, a coercive tactic aimed at rebalancing trade relations and reducing the U.S. trade deficit.
Trump announced sweeping tariffs on April 2, starting with a 10% base tax on all trading partners and additional amounts on many countries, with some ranging as high as 50%. The so-called Liberation Day announcement triggered a sell-off in financial markets, with U.S. stocks taking a significant hit alongside a sharp decline in bitcoin, which fell to $75,000.
The panic likely prompted the Trump administration to announce a 90-day pause a week later.
Since then, the so-called U.S. exceptionalism has resurfaced in financial markets, lifting major U.S. equity indices to record highs. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have outperformed their global peers, with BTC rallying to trade above $100,000.