Bitcoin inches toward $70,000 following Trump’s heightened crypto endorsement

Bitcoin is trading close to the $70,000 mark on Monday, reaching its highest level in six weeks after former U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his support for cryptocurrency over the weekend.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was changing hands at around $69,800 at the time of writing, up 3.32% in the last 24 hours, according to The Block’s price page. Ether traded up 4.28% at $3,350, while Solana climbed 5.9% to around $193 over the past 24 hours.

“The current positive statement regarding crypto from many politicians and economic stakeholders is bolstering investor sentiment,” Justin d'Anethan, head of APAC business development of crypto market maker Keyrock, told The Block. “In Nashville, the Bitcoin conference has been a long stream of respected speakers talking about the importance of crypto and the potential for further allocations to BTC — which of course many traders want to believe in and front run.”

At the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville on Saturday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump pledged that if elected in November, he would create a “strategic bitcoin reserve” and stop the U.S. from selling its existing holdings. Trump also claimed that he would fire the incumbent Securities and Exchange Commission Chair, Gary Gensler.

Meanwhile, in an interview with The Block published over the weekend, Senator Cynthia Lummis said that she intends to introduce a bill next week to direct the U.S. Treasury to purchase 1 million bitcoins, or about $68 billion, over a period of five years.

Such legislation would have the U.S. Treasury self-custody the bitcoins across “a variety of geographic locations,” Lummis said, adding that the government would hold those coins for at least 20 years unless they are sold to “reduce the debt.”

“The continued belief that a Republican win in this year’s elections is more likely than a Democratic one leads one to believe in a more accommodative monetary environment and business-centric administration,” d'Anethan said. “Lower taxes and potential rate cuts support risk-assets across the board.”

Peter Chung, head of research at Presto, stated that following the U.S. election’s developments between now and November has become “more important than ever.”

“Short-term speculators' position leading up to the Trump speech was liquidated when the market briefly tanked on 'sell-the-news' move during the speech, as evidenced in the large liquidation at futures markets. As a result, the short-term speculative positions are now swapped to long-term investors who understand the significance of the changes taking place in U.S. politics with regard to Bitcoin,” Chung said.

“With the overhang removed, the market is now under no constraints to reflect the implications of not just Trump's speech, but also Lummis' Bitcoin Strategy Reserve Bill,” Chung added.

Nick Ruck, head of growth at BitU Protocol, said that traders are waiting to see potential changes to interest rates and who Trump will choose for key positions if elected, “specifically for the Federal Reserve and the SEC.”