Quick Take

Bitcoin briefly rose above the $97,000 level on Wednesday morning in Asia before slightly retreating, as U.S. and Chinese trade officials confirmed plans to hold their first talks this weekend in Switzerland.

The world's largest cryptocurrency climbed 2.8% in the past 24 hours to trade at $96,858 at press time after reaching around $97,400 earlier in the day, according to The Block's price page. Ether traded up 1.6% at $1,827.

The bitcoin rally coincides with official announcements from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that they are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland this weekend. It would be the first ice-breaker meeting since President Donald Trump launched a trade war against China.

"I look forward to productive talks as we work towards rebalancing the international economic system towards better serving the interests of the United States," Bessent said in the statement.

Peter Chung, head of research at Presto Research, told The Block that the news is boosting expectations of a potential resolution to the trade dispute, putting the market back into a "risk-on" mode.

"Gold, a risk-off asset, started to tank but risk-on assets like Nasdaq futures and BTC started rallying all around the same time this morning, which coincides with the timing of the announcement," Chung said.

Hashkey Capital Partner Jupiter Zheng also said that further news from the U.S.-China meeting could boost equities and bitcoin, signaling a recovery of the U.S. and global economies from initial tariff-driven sell-offs.

Wednesday also saw the conflict between India and Pakistan intensify, with India reportedly attacking nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir, according to Reuters. 

The escalating hostilities between the two countries coupled with the new developments in U.S.-China trade negotiations has caused volatility in markets to soar, LVRG Research Director Nick Ruck said.

"This upward movement came as a surprise, as investors were de-risking positions ahead of a decision by the Fed about changing interest rates," Rusk said. "Geopolitical uncertainty and macroeconomic volatility may send bitcoin to new highs as a hedge against greater market risk."

Asian equities up

Meanwhile in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.7% as of press time today, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index climbed 0.57%, following the People's Bank of China's announcement to cut key interest rates amid trade uncertainty.

The Chinese central bank said on Wednesday that the seven-day reverse repurchase rate would be cut to 1.4% from 1.5%, and that it will also reduce the reserve requirement ratio — the amount of money banks must keep in reserves — by half a percentage point.

Japan's Nikkei 225 edged down 0.12%, while the Topix added 0.27%. South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.36%.

Overnight in the U.S., the major stock indexes ended lower. The S&P 500 lost 0.77%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.95%. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.87%.