Bitcoin Hits $80,000 - Why Trump is Boosting Crypto?

Donald Trump rode on the back of many promises into the White House, including the promise to make America the Crypto-capital of the world. Well, you know what they say about money being a universal language. This promise made by Trump is sending shock waves across the global financial markets. The just-concluded presidential election has triggered a bull run in the crypto market, with Bitcoin going up to over $75,000 on election night. Following Trump’s election, Bitcoin, the most popular currency, has already hit an all-time high of $80,000 and is expected to continue to rise till the end of the year.

Cryptocurrency is a very volatile asset class, and the entire crypto industry has been reacting positively to Trump's election into the White House, with other currencies such as Dogecoin, Ether, and XRP also benefiting from Trump’s electoral victory. Since the last time Trump was president, cryptocurrency has grown in both value and use cases as more people become more open to the idea of digital money. Crypto has permeated the art industry and found use in real estate. Beyond its obvious use in the finance sector, it is now being used to facilitate transactions in the metaverse and online gaming, with Luckyblock, a crypto casino known for its expansive game offering, bonuses, and other freebies, being a prime example.

This strong association between Trump and crypto did not come about randomly. Earlier this year, Trump announced that he would be building a “crypto army” and that his campaign would accept cryptocurrency donations towards the elections. This signaled a more favorable stance towards cryptocurrency than the Biden administration, whose legacy in cryptocurrency includes a lack of clear regulatory direction for the industry and SEC lawsuits against major crypto players such as Binance and Coinbase.

Trump received cryptocurrency worth millions of dollars during his campaign through his non-fungible tokens and the MAGA coin. Further sealing his relationship with cryptocurrency, Trump also promised to remove Gary Gensler, the Securities and Exchange Commission chair, make America a Bitcoin superpower, and create a Bitcoin strategic reserve for the country.

Not a man to separate business from politics, even while fighting for the most powerful seat in the country, Trump was also promoting his new cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, which is expected to be a crypto borrowing and lending service during his campaign. Trump wants crypto to be mined, minted, and made in America. While that tracks with the president-elect’s tagline of making America great again, we must also not ignore that this is the first time in the history of crypto that the president of a major world power has the proverbial skin in the game.

In his first term as president, Trump did not have such a strong sway over the industry. In fact, just a few years back, Trump was openly not a fan of crypto. In 2019, Trump wrote on his social media about cryptocurrency, saying that the “value is highly volatile and based on thin air.”

Whether Trump’s new romance with the cryptocurrency industry is just a political move to increase his appeal to the young male population that dominates the Crypto space, a smart business move, or both, only time will tell. But for now, everyone can enjoy this Bullish run.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.