The
Bitcoin
price was surging in early-morning trading on Monday as markets reacted to the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The token, which is the largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, was up 5% over 24 hours to $62,903.
Excitement about the launch of several exchange-traded funds helped bitcoin hit a record high of about $74,000 in mid-March, but its price has retreated since then.
One factor driving its surge on Monday could be the attack against Trump, which is perceived to have boosted the Republican nominee’s chances of winning November’s presidential election.
Trump was shot and injured at a rally in Pennsylvania late Saturday. The Secret Service issued a statement saying he was safe, and the FBI said it was treating the event as an assassination attempt.
Advertisement – Scroll to Continue
Other so-called “Trump trades,” including the U.S. dollar, also rallied ahead of Monday’s opening bell.
The former president is seen as being more pro-bitcoin than his opponent President Joe Biden, and his campaign started accepting crypto donations in mid-May. The Republican National Committee has also pledged to make championing crypto a part of its policy platform.
“Trump is seen to be pro-crypto and the theory that he is now in a stronger position in the race to the White House has fired up traders looking for assets to benefit if he gets back into power,” Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at the broker AJ Bell, said.
Other digital assets also racked up gains on Monday.
Ether
,
Advertisement – Scroll to Continue
the second-largest token by overall market cap, was up 4.2% to $3,337.
Altcoins
Solana
and
Cardano
jumped 5.9% and 2.7% respectively, while memecoin
Dogecoin
,
a token previously touted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was up 5.1% to 12 cents.
Crypto stocks also rallied at the opening bell, with
Coinbase
up 7.9% and
MicroStrategy
climbing 9%.
Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com
