Bitcoin rallied over the weekend after President Donald Trump announced a U.S. strategic crypto reserve and teased new details about the highly anticipated move by his cryptocurrency industry backers.
Bitcoin was last trading above the $92,000 level, which is 18% above its Friday low of $78,226.23, according to Coin Metrics. Ether was up 13% in the same period at about $2,300.
Meanwhile, Coinbase and Robinhood jumped 9% and 7% in premarket trading, while shares of MicroStrategy climbed 12%.
Over the weekend, Trump announced the creation of a strategic crypto reserve – a pivot from the “bitcoin stockpile” he previously touted – that he said will include ether, XRP, Solana’s SOL token and Cardano’s ADA, in addition to bitcoin.
Bitcoin rose as high as $95,000, while the smaller coins rocketed double digits.
It was welcome news to investors, who have been anxious for cryptocurrencies to come out of their consolidation. Last week, bitcoin fell under the key $90,000 level for the first time in three months to, at one point, 25% below its January all-time high. That break below support put it at risk of a bigger slide toward $70,000. Losses in smaller, riskier coins have been even steeper.
“The weekend news is exactly the type of catalyst investors have been looking for to feel reassured about follow through from the U.S. administration with respect to its crypto friendly policies,” Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, told CNBC. “Now that we’ve already seen a healthy correction in February, this sets the stage for the start to the next leg higher for crypto assets.”
Investors this week will be watching for clues about the direction of the reserve plans. White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks teased in a post on X that there would be “more to come” at the first White House Crypto Summit, scheduled to take place this Friday.
How long prices stay elevated may depend on the details disclosed at the event.