Bitcoin rises to two-week high after Donald Trump attack

Bitcoin prices rose to a two-week high on Monday after the assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump increased the former president, who has portrayed himself as a cryptocurrency advocate,’s chances of winning the upcoming election.

Trump said he was shot in the ear during the attack at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. His campaign said he was fine. Some investors said the attack boosted his chances of retaking the White House, and betting on his victory is expected to increase this week.

Bitcoin rose 8.6% to $62,508, hitting a two-week high of $62,698 earlier in the session, bringing its year-to-date gain to 47%.

Ether also rose 6.8% to $3,322.

Trump is running against Democratic President Joe Biden in the November U.S. election and has sharply criticized Democrats’ attempts to regulate the crypto sector. At a fundraiser in San Francisco in June, Trump presented himself as a cryptocurrency advocate, although he did not provide details about his planned crypto policy.

“He has definitely positioned himself as a proponent of cryptocurrencies and with his re-election chances boosted by the shooting over the weekend, it has certainly given a big boost to offerings in the crypto markets and Bitcoin is clearly an absolute highlight,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG.

Trump is scheduled to speak at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 27, conference organizers said last week.

Bitcoin got off to a strong start to the year following the launch of exchange-traded funds in the U.S., driving the price to a record $73,803.25 in mid-March, but has struggled since then, falling to a more than four-month low in early July as traders worried about the likely sell-off of tokens from the defunct Japanese exchange Mt. Gox.

“There have been four weeks of declines due to the Mt. Gox news… but the recovery doesn’t seem to be over to me and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the price back up to at least $65,000 by the end of this week,” said IG’s Sycamore.