Morning brief: Bitcoin leads crypto rally, Trump China trip, Nvidia GTC

Global markets started the week on an optimistic note as the cryptocurrency market witnessed a fresh surge with the Bitcoin price briefly crossing the critical $74,000 resistance.

Bitcoin is leading a broad cryptocurrency rally as investors return to risk assets, while Ethereum and XRP also post strong gains.

The geopolitical tensions continue to dominate the narrative as US President Donald Trump hinted at delaying a planned visit to China amid the Iran conflict.

Meanwhile, Nvidia’s GTC conference and Micron’s expansion plans are keeping the AI chip sector firmly in focus.

Bitcoin leads crypto rally

The crypto market saw a surprising boom on Monday, which signalled renewed risk appetite across digital assets.

Bitcoin rose 3.4% to $73,852.12, leading the rally and pushing the largest cryptocurrency closer to recent highs.

Ethereum outperformed major tokens, jumping 7.6% to $2,263.72 as traders rotated into large-cap altcoins.

XRP also advanced, gaining 4.36% to $1.47 and extending momentum in the broader market.

Analysts will now watch whether the move attracts fresh institutional flows and sparks follow-through buying in smaller tokens over the next 24 hours from investors worldwide.

Trump may delay China visit amid Iran war

US President Donald Trump has resumed his pressure tactics against China as he hinted at delaying his long-awaited trip to Beijing.

The move is seen as a part of Washington's plan to push China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz after Iran disrupted shipping through the key waterway.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said he wants clarity from Beijing before the trip, scheduled for March 31 to April 2, and added, “We may delay.”

The comments came as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris to prepare for the summit, though Beijing has not formally confirmed the dates.

Nvidia's GTC conference to kickstart today

Nvidia’s high-powered GTC conference is all set to begin from Monday, where the chip giant is expected to show investors how it plans to stay ahead in the fast-changing AI chip race.

Chief Executive Jensen Huang is expected to unveil products and partnerships spanning chips, data centers, CUDA software, AI agents, and robotics.

The conference is coming at a crucial time for Nvidia as the company is facing rising pressure from rivals and even customers such as OpenAI and Meta, which are building more of their own chips.

Analysts still see the overall AI chip market growing, though Nvidia’s market share could narrow as inference workloads spread across different architectures.

Micron bets bigger on AI memory

Micron stock will remain in focus on Monday after the company announced plans to build a second chip manufacturing facility in Taiwan at Tongluo.

The expansion is aimed at boosting output of advanced DRAM and high-bandwidth memory, two products in heavy demand as AI spending keeps rising.

Micron said construction on the new facility is scheduled to begin by the end of its fiscal 2026.

The company has already completed the acquisition of the Tongluo P5 site, which adds roughly 300,000 square feet of existing cleanroom space.