An assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday has seemingly boosted Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin surged over 10% in a week and more than 5% in a day, reaching about $63,000 on Monday morning. Just days earlier, Bitcoin was around $55,000 following the now-defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox beginning to repay its creditors billions of dollars in Bitcoin, causing a significant sell-off.
The attempt on Trump’s life is viewed as increasing his chances of securing the Republican nomination for the presidential election. The crypto community is optimistic, believing Trump’s recent crypto-friendly stance could benefit the industry if he is elected.
Other cryptocurrencies followed Bitcoin’s lead. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rose over 10% in the past week, with more than a 5% increase in a day, trading at $3,300. Major cryptocurrencies like Solana and Dogecoin saw their values rise by 5.4% and 4.8%, respectively, in one day.
Cryptocurrencies associated with Trump or the Republican Party also saw significant gains. TrumpCoin (DJT) has risen in price recently, surging almost 25% in the past seven days, currently trading at $0.008964. Despite false claims from Martin Shkreli that he and Donald Trump’s son Barron are behind the crypto, TrumpCoin has no official affiliation with Trump.
Additionally, Bitcoin has experienced a surge due to substantial investments in spot Bitcoin ETFs recently. From July 5, these ETFs have seen continuous inflows, with over $310 million in inflows on July 12 alone. BlackRock’s IBIT led with $120 million in inflows, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $115 million. Grayscale’s GBTC, despite a history of outflows, attracted $23 million in investment.