Bitcoin price rises as Trump backtracks on Greenland tariff threat
Brian McGleenonUpdated
Thu 22 January 2026 at 4:53 am GMT-5
2 min read
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Bitcoin (BTC-USD) traded higher on Thursday as global risk sentiment improved after US President Donald Trump walked back his plan to impose new tariffs on European allies amid his push to acquire Greenland.
The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation (BTC-USD) rose about 1% over the past 24 hours to hover near $90,000 (£66,902), moving in tandem with equities in Asia and Europe. The broader cryptocurrency market cap climbed 2.7% to $3.18tn over the same period, according to CoinGecko data.
Read more: Crypto live prices
President Donald Trump signalled a diplomatic shift on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, saying he would not pursue military action to acquire Greenland and had reached “the framework of a future deal” on the Danish territory with NATO allies.
The remarks injected fresh volatility into crypto markets. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell to an intraday low near $87,300 before rebounding back toward $90,000 as traders reassessed US trade policy risks and broader macro conditions. More than $625m in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, split roughly evenly between longs and shorts across about 150,000 traders, according to Coinglass market data.
Analysts said the episode underscored how digital assets are reacting more directly to geopolitical and macro headlines.
“Today’s sharp price swings highlight how closely crypto markets are tracking geopolitical and policy developments,” said Rachel Lin, CEO of SynFutures, noting that Trump’s signals on Greenland negotiations and a pause on potential EU tariffs “briefly improved global risk sentiment, prompting a rapid rebound in bitcoin alongside US equities.”
Read more: Will bitcoin price sink to $50k or soar to $125k in 2026?
Speaking to Yahoo Finance UK, Lin added that while the move was headline-driven, “they reflect a deeper shift in market structure,” describing bitcoin (BTC-USD) as “increasingly behaving like a macro asset, reacting to changes in policy expectations and broader risk appetite.”
Longer term, she said, institutional participation is supporting bitcoin’s (BTC-USD) evolution as “a maturing and globally relevant asset class, even amid elevated volatility.”
Stocks rally as Trump dials down trade tensions
Global equities rallied as Trump withdrew his threat to impose additional 10% tariffs on eight European countries, including the UK, after receiving what he called the “framework of a future deal” in NATO discussions regarding Greenland.
Read more: UK’s new tax rules could trigger crypto boom, says Aave CEO
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei gained nearly 2%, while South Korea’s Kospi broke above the 5,000 level for the first time. European markets opened higher, with the FTSE 100 up 0.7% at the open.
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Earlier on Wednesday at Davos, Trump insisted the US wanted Greenland, “including right, title and ownership,” but softened his rhetoric around military intervention. Hours later, he said on social media that the US had secured “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland,” and confirmed the tariff threat had been withdrawn.
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