Bitcoin moved little on Wednesday, remaining squarely within a trading range seen over the past few weeks as risk appetite remained quashed by uncertainty over U.S. trade tariffs and their economic impact.
The world’s largest crypto took little support from President Donald Trump’s Truth.Social platform progressing its plans to list a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in U.S. markets.
Focus was squarely on a potential call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which could set the tone for future trade negotiations between the U.S. and China.
While speculation over the call did boost some risk appetite, this was offset by Trump doubling his tariffs on steel and aluminum imports– a move that could present some near-term pressure for U.S. businesses.
Bitcoin was flat at $105,518.8 by 01:17 ET (05:17 GMT).
Truth.Social Bitcoin ETF progresses towards listing
The New York Stock Exchange’s Arca division– the all-electronic arm of the exchange which handles most ETF listings– filed a form on Tuesday to list a spot Bitcoin ETF backed by Truth.Social, which belongs to Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (NASDAQ:DJT), which is majority owned by the president.
NYSE Arca filed a form 19b-4 seeking regulatory approval to list and trade the ETF.
The ETF intends to directly track the price of Bitcoin, and joins a host of other, similar offerings in giving investors, especially in the institutional and retail space, a simple means of gaining Bitcoin exposure.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs have enjoyed steady growth since their launch in early-2024, with data from SoSoValue showing lifetime inflows of $44.4 billion for the sector.
Trump Media had also recently announced a $3 billion capital raise to buy more crypto– a strategy similar to that used by Micheal Saylor’s Strategy the world’s biggest corporate Bitcoin holder.
The ETF marks another move by Trump’s empire to further its crypto interests. Trump had earlier this year launched his own memecoin– and has also directed his administration towards pursuing more crypto-friendly policies.
Crypto price today: altcoins muted amid scant trading signals
Broader crypto prices kept to a tight range, amid a dearth of positive trading cues. While crypto markets are not directly affected by trade tariffs and economic ructions, they are vulnerable to the shifts in sentiment resulting from these trends, given their speculative nature.
