$BTC IMF Warning of Economic Slowdown, Bitcoin Unexpectedly Surges to $90,000

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently lowered its global economic growth forecast and raised its inflation prediction for the United States, yet Bitcoin has surprisingly become a beneficiary, with its price breaking through $90,000, reaching a seven-week high.

**Pessimistic Economic Expectations Boost Bitcoin**

In the April release of the "2025 World Economic Outlook," the IMF downgraded the U.S. economic growth forecast for this year from 2.7% to 1.8%, while raising the inflation expectation from 1.9% to 3%. The report also indicated that the global economy may generally slow down. However, Bitcoin quickly surged after the report's release, pushing the total market value of cryptocurrencies close to $2.9 trillion. Major coins like Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) also rose by about 5%.

**Is Bitcoin Decoupling from U.S. Stocks?**

Some analysts believe that Bitcoin's recent performance indicates it may be decoupling from traditional financial markets. Patrick Liou, Vice Director of Institutional Sales at Gemini, pointed out that investors are turning to Bitcoin as a safe haven due to Trump's criticism of Federal Reserve policies and the uncertainty in trade negotiations. Despite a sell-off in U.S. stocks on Monday, Bitcoin rose in tandem with gold, with net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs reaching $381 million in a single day, the highest since the end of January.

QCP Capital analysts noted that the weakening dollar and inflows from institutional investors are supporting Bitcoin's independent market performance. Bernstein's research team also believes that amidst the trend of de-globalization, Bitcoin may play a more significant role, especially against the backdrop of strong gold performance.

**Can the Decoupling Continue?**

However, Wintermute trader Jake O. cautioned that if the dollar rebounds, the decoupling trend between Bitcoin and the stock market may reverse. "If the dollar index stabilizes, this trend may be difficult to maintain." Currently, the market is still observing subsequent economic data and policy directions.

Whether Bitcoin can truly become a safe-haven asset will require time to verify, but the IMF's pessimistic forecasts undoubtedly provide momentum for its short-term rise.