TLDR
- Bitcoin price nears $70,000 following Trump’s pro-crypto speech at Bitcoin 2024 conference
- Trump promised to create a “strategic bitcoin reserve” if elected
- Analyst predictions range from $100,000 to over $800,000 per Bitcoin
- Senator Cynthia Lummis plans to introduce a bill for the U.S. to purchase 1 million bitcoins
- Trump criticized the current administration as being anti-crypto
Bitcoin’s price is approaching the $70,000 mark following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement of cryptocurrency at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville. The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading at around $69,800 as of Monday, up 3.32% in the last 24 hours, reaching its highest level in six weeks.
At the conference, Trump made several bold promises regarding cryptocurrency if he were to be re-elected in November.
He pledged to create a “strategic bitcoin reserve” and vowed to prevent the U.S. from selling its existing holdings of approximately 210,000 BTC, worth over $14 billion.
Trump also stated his intention to fire the current Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair, Gary Gensler, known for his skeptical stance on cryptocurrencies.
Trump’s speech has sparked optimistic predictions from crypto analysts. Daan de Rover, known as “Crypto Rover” on social media, suggested that Bitcoin’s price could potentially cross $800,000 if Trump is re-elected. This prediction is based on Trump’s statement that Bitcoin may overtake gold’s market capitalization in the future.
Donald Trump said #Bitcoin will one day probably surpass the market cap of Gold.
If this would happen, $BTC would be valued at $813,054 pic.twitter.com/0Ca4DTCU6C
— Crypto Rover (@rovercrc) July 28, 2024
More conservative estimates from analysts like Daan Crypto Traders and Tanaka predict Bitcoin reaching $100,000. Tanaka cited the gradual influx of large institutional investors through U.S.-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as a driving factor for this potential growth.
Adding to the bullish sentiment, Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming announced plans to introduce a bill directing the U.S. Treasury to purchase 1 million bitcoins, approximately $68 billion worth, over five years.
This would amount to nearly 5% of Bitcoin’s total supply of 21 million tokens. Lummis stated that these holdings would be maintained for at least 20 years and could be used to reduce national debt.
Trump’s speech heavily criticized the current Biden-Harris administration, labeling it as “fascist” and asserting that Bitcoin is the only way to avoid government coercion and control.
He specifically targeted Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her “worse than Biden” and “against crypto… very big.” Trump warned that if the current administration wins re-election, it would be detrimental to the crypto community.
The former president also outlined plans to make the U.S. a “Bitcoin mining powerhouse” by building fossil fuel-based power plants to satisfy the high energy demands of Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence. Trump aims to ensure that the U.S. has the “lowest cost of energy and electricity of any nation on Earth” by the end of his potential new term.
Market analysts attribute the current positive sentiment not only to Trump’s speech but also to a broader shift in political rhetoric around cryptocurrencies. Justin d’Anethan, head of APAC business development at crypto market maker Keyrock, noted that the Bitcoin conference featured “a long stream of respected speakers talking about the importance of crypto and the potential for further allocations to BTC.”
Peter Chung, head of research at Presto, highlighted the significance of following U.S. election developments between now and November, stating it has become “more important than ever” for the crypto market.
