all41author Bitcoin surged after former president Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt on Saturday.
The price of the digital currency hit a two-week high on Monday topping $62,000 as investors bet that Trump, who has been a vocal supporter of cryptocurrencies, would sweep to victory in November following the shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump, who once criticized Bitcoin as “highly volatile” and “based on thin air,” has become an outspoken supporter of crypto in recent months as he seeks to win over undecided voters.
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He has pledged to support crypto mining in the US if he wins a second term and previously attacked rival Joe Biden as having “no idea” what crypto is.
That rhetoric has won him the support of some Bitcoin advocates, with one cryptocurrency CEO telling CNBC the industry planned to commit more than $100 million to help Trump get elected.
Trump also started accepting campaign donations in cryptocurrency and has experimented with his own line of NFTs.
Carol Alexander, a professor of finance at the University of Sussex, told Business Insider the spike in Bitcoin was essentially a “knee-jerk reaction” to the shooting, with the rally unlikely to last.
She said that dramatic price swings in the aftermath of major news events were a common feature of Bitcoin’s volatility, adding that the growing odds of a Trump victory in November were being “interpreted as good news” for the crypto industry by traders.
Trump is set to face off against President Joe Biden in November in a rematch of the 2020 election.
The former real estate developer and Republican nominee currently has a narrow poll lead over Biden, who has faced calls to step down following a series of high-profile gaffes and a rocky first presidential debate.
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