The Price of Bitcoin Reaches a Six-Week High as a Result of Trump's Endorsement
Former president Donald Trump at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee. He promises to stop persecuting the cryptocurrency business if he wins the US election in November. The previous US president declared that the US would dominate the world in cryptocurrency
Following Donald Trump's declaration over the weekend that, should he win the US presidential election, the cryptocurrency business would no longer be subject to "persecution," Bitcoin has reached its highest level in over six weeks.
Monday saw a more than 3% increase in the price of cryptocurrencies, reaching a height of over $69,745, the highest level since June 12 when the price reached over $69,800.
The spike follows Trump's affirmative remarks on Saturday at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, when he declared that the US will dominate the world in cryptocurrencies and adopt a more pro-bitcoin position than his opponent, Kamala Harris.
"I swear to the bitcoin community that the day I take the oath of office, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s anti-crypto crusade will be over,” the former president stated. "China and other nations will adopt cryptocurrency and bitcoin technologies if we don't. They will rule, and we can't allow China to rule. As it stands, they are moving forward far too quickly."
In addition, if he were elected, he threatened to fire the head of the US financial watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on the first day of his administration. "I will fire Gary Gensler on day one," Trump declared, drawing applause from the crowd.
Despite supporting cryptocurrencies in January by endorsing exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are a collection of assets that can be bought and sold like shares on an exchange, Gensler is a well-known skeptic of cryptocurrencies. ETFs follow the price of bitcoin. In a statement endorsing the ETFs, the chair of the SEC declared that bitcoin was a “speculative, volatile” asset that was utilized for illicit purposes such as funding terrorist attacks and ransomware. The SEC has brought more than 40 enforcement proceedings pertaining to cryptocurrency since 2023.
Speaking at the bitcoin convention, Trump announced that he would use cryptocurrency that the US government held—mostly confiscated in law enforcement actions—to construct a national "stockpile" of bitcoin and establish a crypto presidential advisory group.
Trump stated, "Never sell your bitcoin." "The United States of America will maintain 100% ownership of all bitcoin that the US government currently owns or purchases in the future if I am elected."
In an effort to "reset" the connection between the Democratic party and the cryptocurrency industry, leading crypto companies were contacted by Harris's advisors, according to a Financial Times story published on Saturday. According to the FT, approaches have been made to the blockchain payments startup Ripple Labs, the stablecoin company Circle, and the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.