While other markets continue to claw back losses since the beginning of the year, bitcoin has staged a rebound following its recent correction.
After slumping into the US$70,000s earlier this month – down more than 30 per cent from its all-time high reached in January – bitcoin has recovered to post a year-to-date gain of some 1 per cent.
While the gain is modest, US equities – the market darlings of last year – are still over 5 per cent down in 2025, despite gaining some 3 per cent over the last five days.
According to Zerocap’s chief investment officer, Jonathan de Wet, bitcoin’s strength amid the broader market chaos is “very telling”.
“Bitcoin continues its strong resurgence, currently trading at US$95,000, its highest since late February. Resilience in the face of volatile bond markets, geopolitical uncertainty and persistent inflation pressures highlights its evolving role in the broader asset mix,” de Wet told InvestorDaily.
“It is no longer just a risk asset proxy, but increasingly viewed as a core allocation for institutional Treasuries.”
This week, the theme was reinforced with US firm MicroStrategy – one of the first publicly traded firms to adopt bitcoin as its primary Treasury reserve asset – adding another 6,556 BTC to its balance sheet and bringing its total holding to 538,200 BTC.
According to de Wet, bitcoin – which on Wednesday afternoon (AEDT) sat at US$94,872 – is currently navigating critical levels, with immediate support sitting at US$92,000.
“There is some chop to get through above US$95,000 to open the pathway toward US$100,000 and beyond,” he said.
“We keep pointing toward real money buyers at these levels. Leverage is not wild. In fact, Binance’s funding rate on BTC has just gone negative, with spot rallying.
“The three-month basis is around 5 per cent annualised. We are in open territory here, with little risk of large liquidations to the downside.”
While tariff uncertainties cloud the global economic outlook and recession fears grow, de West noted that in the case of bitcoin, it is long-term investors – not short-term traders – who are increasingly “ruling the roost”, reflecting a maturing asset class gaining broader acceptance.
“Bitcoin is breaking away from its often stereotyped correlations,” he said. “Trump may potentially be backing off on his hardline tariffs but he is still generating a huge amount of uncertainty across markets, politics and life. Amidst all this turbulence, BTC is holding strong.”
Speaking to InvestorDaily, Coinstash co-founder Mena Theodorou said: “Bitcoin’s recent stability between US$90,000 and US$95,000 reflects a period of healthy consolidation following a strong rebound in April – its best month so far this year.”
Helping bitcoin reach a two-month high were record exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows and growing institutional demand, coupled with strong buying activity.
“While short-term performance has lagged equities, underlying momentum remains solid,” Theodorou said.
“Traders are closely watching the monthly close for signs of continued strength. Overall, sentiment appears broadly bullish, driven by institutional participation and shifting US–China trade rhetoric under Trump that’s fuelling renewed optimism.
“While near-term direction may hinge on macro data and policy signals, the stage is set for potentially meaningful moves in the months ahead.”
New data from Global X also showed that cryptocurrencies were the top-performing ETFs locally last week, with the ETF provider noting that investors crowded the space as the US dollar sell-off narrative took hold.
Namely, the Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, VanEck Bitcoin ETF, Betashares Bitcoin ETF and Digital X Bitcoin ETF posted returns between 9.5 and 10.2 per cent.
