Bitcoin Steady as US Confirms Economy Shrank in Q1

The U.S. economy has had its first contraction since 2022, revised official statistics revealed on Thursday, as the economy shrank by an annualized 0.2% during the first quarter of 2025.

If this sounds like déjà vu, it’s because the U.S. reported initial data at the end of April and published its final and revised report Thursday morning.

Since the economic slowdown isn’t entirely a surprise, the response from the cryptocurrency market has largely been muted. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading flat, Ethereum bucked the trend by climbing 1.1%, and XRP dropped just 0.4% in the past day. The largest mover in the top 10 tokens by market capitalization is Solana which has fallen 1.3% on the day.

Revised figures show the gross domestic product—the value of goods and services provided within a country—decreased by 0.2% in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2025.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis said the decrease in U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), the value of goods and services provided within a country, reflects an increase in imports and decrease in government spending.

This follows President Trump’s global trade war, which saw more than 180 countries slapped with tariffs of up to 104%. Markets broadly tanked as Trump applied, revised, and reapplied tariffs to a number of major trade partners, including China, the UK, and Europe.

Recently, the trade war has appeared to ease with Trump extending the deadline for the European Union negotiations and the U.S. reaching an agreement with China. With that, Bitcoin broke through to a new all-time high as the market reacted favorably to Trump’s retreats.

But, it appears the trade war period wasn’t without its economic consequences.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, which saw a 2.4% gain in GDP, the Bureau of Economic Analysis report revealed a clear deceleration in consumer spending. That’s on top of an increase in imports and a downturn in government spending.

Fortunately for crypto traders, major tokens have mostly shrugged off this news.

The strongest movers on the day are both meme coins. Ethereum token SPX6900 (SPX) jumping 10.9% and Solana meme coin Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) dropping 7%—fairly muted moves figures for such volatile assets.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.