Crypto prices on May 8: ETH, top altcoins gain as BTC eyes breakout above $100k

The cryptocurrency market cap rose by more than 3% to top $3 trillion on Thursday, May 8, as the Bitcoin price climbed to $99,841 on Coinbase.

This marked the benchmark cryptocurrency’s highest level since February 7, 2025, when BTC dropped from highs of $100k.

Most altcoins also rose, painting the crypto market green as daily volume rose by 35% to over $111 billion.

Noticeably, Bitcoin dominance remained elevated at 64.1% while Ethereum’s dominance hovered at 7.6%.

Why did Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies rally today?

Bitcoin’s spike to within the $100k level came as the global risk assets market reacted to news from US President Donald Trump late Wednesday.

In an announcement on Truth Social, Trump revealed an imminent trade deal with a major country.

Stocks rose in tandem, with this coming after the Federal Reserve had announced interest rates would remain unchanged.

This positive outlook on Wall Street also seeped into the crypto markets, which traded green as BTC edged higher.

The trade deal is expected to be with the United Kingdom, which Trump said would be made public at 10:00 am Washington DC time. 

OCC announcement buoys crypto market

The surge in crypto prices also comes amid a key regulatory development that will see banks buy and sell digital assets. 

On May 7, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that regulated banks “may buy and sell assets held in custody at the customer’s direction.”

OCC also allows national banks and federal savings associations to outsource crypto-asset activities, including custody and execution, to third parties.

ETH edged to $2k as top altcoins rise

As investors flipped bullish on easing of tariff tensions, earlier hinted at with revelations that top US officials were to meet their Chinese counterparts, Bitcoin rose to $99,789. 

This surge helped alts higher, and per data from Coinglass, over $349 million in leveraged positions got wiped out.

Bearish bets accounted for about 75% of the total 24-hour liquidations, with over $263 million.

Notably, Ethereum price edged to highs of $1,941, shy of the $2,000 mark bulls may fancy for upside continuation.

While ETH remains below the key level, CryptoQuant analysts say the top altcoin is undervalued and will likely explode.

Pudgy Penguins, EOS lead gainers today

Apart from ETH, the broader altcoin market also rose slightly amid positive sentiment.

In the top 10 coins by market, XRP, BNB, and Solana jumped to above $2.21, $616, and $153, respectively.

Dogecoin, Cardano, and Tron also rose to key levels.

Outperforming altcoins among the top 100 by market cap included Pudgy Penguins (+25%), EOS (+16%), and Virtuals Protocol (+16%). 

For EOS, the breakout to above $0.84 comes ahead of the project’s new token swap. The EOS token will rebrand to A on May 14.

Other top gainers in the past 24 hours are Pepe (+13%), Celestia (+13%), Official Trump (+11%), and Bitcoin Cash (+10%).