Bitcoin soared to over a two-week high on Monday following the assassination attempt of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, which raised the odds of the former president, who has presented himself as a champion of cryptocurrency, winning the elections.
Bitcoin rose 3.26 percent to $62,956.60, after reaching a two-week high of $62,698 earlier in the session, raising its gains so far this year to 47 percent.
Ether also saw an increase of 3.19 percent to $3,349.95.
Crypto market surges
Trump presented himself as a crypto champion during a San Francisco fundraiser in June. However, he has not offered any details on his crypto policy proposals since then. This, in addition to his assassination attempt during the weekend, which raised hopes for him winning, led to a surge in crypto markets and Bitcoin. Trump is due to speak at the Bitcoin 2024 conference on July 27, the organizers of the conference said last week.
Bitcoin started the year strong following the launch of exchange-traded funds (ETF) in the U.S. This raised the world’s largest cryptocurrency to a record high of $73,803.25 in mid-March. Since then, Bitcoin has struggled, declining to a four-month low in early July as traders raised concerns about the likelihood of dumping tokens from the bankrupt Japanese exchange Mt. Gox amid concerns over the U.S. presidential elections.
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Market to recover from Mt. Gox news
In early July, uncertainty in the crypto market rose as investors raised their concerns over the possibility of the new president not being as pro-crypto. Elections in France and the U.K. have also weighed on markets.
On the back of the Mt. Gox news, bitcoin saw four weeks of consecutive decline. However, analysts expect the cryptocurrency to rise at least towards the $65,000 mark by the end of this week.
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