Leading coins maintained positive momentum Wednesday overnight after pro-cryptocurrency Paul Atkins was confirmed as SEC Chairman.

What Happened: Bitcoin soared beyond $82,000, while Ethereum topped $1,600, spurring gains in the broader market and erasing some losses from last week’s ‘Liberation Day’ measures.

Over $370 million in short positions was wiped out from the market in the last 24 hours, including $194 million in Bitcoin alone.

The dramatic reversal followed President Donald Trump's surprise announcement of a 90-day pause on tariffs for countries that have not retaliated against U.S. trade measures.

Later in the day, the confirmation of Atkins as the new SEC chairman boosted sentiment. Atkins had previously stated that building a regulatory framework for digital assets would be his top priority.

Bitcoin’s Open Interest soared 9.65% in the last 24 hours, signaling a revival in speculative interest and an influx of new money into the derivatives market.

However, the majority of Binance traders flipped from bullish to bearish positioning for the apex cryptocurrency, according to the Long/Short ratio, implying expectations of a pullback.

The market sentiment improved from "Extreme Fear" to “Fear,” according to the Crypto Fear and Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24-Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.62 trillion, following a jump of 7.81% in the last 24 hours.

Stocks made a historic comeback Wednesday following days of turmoil. The Dow Jones Industrial Average exploded 2,962.86 points, or 7.87%, to end at 40,608.45, marking its biggest gain since March 2020. The S&P 500 skyrocketed 9.52% to 5,456.90, its best day since October 2008, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lifted 12.16%, ending at 15,267.91.

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Analyst Notes: Popular on-chain analytics firm Santiment cautioned against the surge in optimism following the 90-day pause announcement. 

The number of bullish comments for Bitcoin and Ethereum sharply exceeded bearish takes on social media.

"Crypto may rally for a bit as retail catches up with the news, but beware of the high level of FOMO and buying on ‘kick the can down the road’ news on a topic that has remained unresolved," Santiment stated.

Widely followed cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez noted Bitcoin's breakout from a range. 

"If the $80,700 support holds, we could see an upswing to $84,000 or even $87,000," the analyst projected. 

Photo by SvetlanaParnikova on Shutterstock

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