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Bitcoin hit a two-week high on Monday as betting markets suggested an increased chance of victory for cryptocurrency-friendly candidate Donald Trump in the US presidential election.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, was up 5.2% as of 4:43 p.m. London time (11:43 a.m. ET), at $63,061.55, according to CoinGecko.
The rally follows the dramatic assassination attempt on the former president on Saturday.
“There is a ‘parallel’ to the shooting of President Reagan in 1981,” although it was not an election year, Ben Emmons, chief investment officer at FedWatch Advisors, said in an emailed note.
“After the incident, Reagan’s popularity soared amid a double-dip recession. The S&P 500, however, fell 9% afterward due to economic distress. But in the current strong economy, former President Trump’s favorable position will likely soar and positively impact the markets.”
Investors said over the weekend that they expected the so-called Trump victory trade to gain momentum. These trades expanded to include various crypto stocks such as Coinbase Global and miner Riot Platformswhich rose 4.5% and 5.25%, respectively, in preliminary trading.
“The price of bitcoin rose about 9% over the weekend, which could signal that investors expect a Trump presidency to create a more favorable regulatory climate for the crypto industry,” Zach Pandl, head of of research at Grayscale Investments.
Trump has yet to come up with detailed proposals on cryptocurrency regulation, but the Republican nominee is now widely seen as a supporter of the industry – despite his past skepticism. He is expected to speak at a major annual bitcoin conference later this month.
Trump’s campaign began accepting donations from the crypto industry in May, and his messages have grown increasingly positive about the future of such digital assets. He also tried to position himself against industry-leaning Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Bitcoin.
“Furthermore, macroeconomic policy changes under a second Trump presidency – including continued deficit spending, reduced US leadership in international affairs, weaker Federal Reserve independence and a desire for a weaker currency to help shrink the trade deficit , among others – could lead to a downward trend. risks to the US dollar in the medium term Any downside risks to the US dollar could support the price of Bitcoin,” Pandl added.
Last month, analysts at Standard Chartered said the US presidential election is the next key catalyst for bitcoin’s price, and a Trump victory could push it as high as $150,000 by the end of the year.
“Cryptocurrencies have not had an easy time in the past few months. We are currently in a downturn of previously booming capital inflows into this market that can be measured by stablecoin capitalization, which has frozen over the past two months,” said Grzegorz Drozdz, market analyst at Conotoxia, told CNBC via email.
With a higher probability of a Trump presidency and consequently a reduced possibility of unrest and destabilization in the US, Drozdz now sees a possible “inflow of confidence in the markets” that could positively affect cryptocurrencies and bitcoin in the coming weeks.
