The cryptocurrency market rallied sharply on Thursday after the Trump administration inked a trade deal with the United Kingdom.

What Happened: Bitcoin breached the $100,000 milestone after a wait of three months, catalyzing a broader market uptick. The apex cryptocurrency nearly tapped $104,000 in a volatile session, with trading volume increasing by 59% in the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin’s gains were overwhelmed by its younger sibling, Ethereum, which burst out after weeks of sideways trading around the $1,800 range. The second-largest cryptocurrency breached $2,200, a level not seen in over two months.

The rally pushed Ethereum's market dominance past 8% for the first time in over a month.

Bearish leveraged traders took in huge losses as the rally wiped out nearly $800 million in short positions.

Interestingly, Bitcoin's Open Interest dropped 0.20% in the last 24 hours, indicating that the rally may have been driven by short covering. On the other hand, Ethereum's Open Interest surged 20%.

The "Greed" sentiment prevailed in the market, according to the Crypto Fear and Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24-Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization soared 6.91% in the last 24 hours to $3.22 trillion.

Stocks also climbed on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 254.48 points, or 0.62%, to end at 41,368.45. The S&P 500 lifted 0.58% to close at 5,663.94, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.07% to finish at 17,928.14.

Get Started

Start Your Crypto Journey Today and Get $500 in Rewards

Exclusively for new Crypto.com App users, unlock up to $500 worth of rewards in the most popular tokens when you start trading.

Get Started

The risk-on sentiment was bolstered after the Trump administration signed its first major trade agreement with the UK, fueling confidence about further global deals.

This comes ahead of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's meeting with top Chinese officials for trade negotiations.

See More: Best Cryptocurrency Scanners

Analyst Notes: Cryptocurrency analytics firm Santiment said the ongoing bullish sentiment could be a "double-edged sword" for upcoming price moves.

"On one hand, retail FOMO can add a bit of extra fuel to this rally as major media outlets spam Bitcoin’s 3-month milestone and bring in many new entries to the space. On the other hand, we typically see rallies put on the brakes when there is an overwhelming amount of calls related to ‘higher’ or ‘above,’" the firm added.

Cryptocurrency analyst and trader Rekt Capital weighed in on Ethereum's stratospheric gains during the day, emphasizing the significance of $2,200.

"Reclaim ~$2200 and Ethereum will resynchronise with its $2200-$3900 macro range," the analyst said

Shutterstock: Yalcin Sonat

Read Next:    

• Coinbase Acquires Deribit In $2.9B Deal To Expand Crypto Derivatives Business