WASHINGTON – Bitcoin rose above US$60,000 after Donald Trump’s defiant response to an assassination attempt spurred speculation that his chances of winning the presidential election have climbed.
The former president, who has positioned himself as pro-cryptocurrency, said he was shot in the right ear after gunfire erupted at his political rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. His campaign said he was “fine” after the incident and looking forward to going to the Republican National Convention that begins on July 15 in Milwaukee.
Trump’s chances of becoming president again increased after today’s developments, according to PredictIt data. Images of a defiant Trump – with his fist raised over his head and a bloody right ear, and the American flag waving in the background – are blazing across social media and television after the attack.
The Trump campaign said he will attend the convention. President Joe Biden said he is glad Trump is safe and condemned the violence.
Markets are likely to respond with higher volatility, and could repeat the trades employed when June’s debate played out favourably to Trump. In that case, the US dollar gained and Treasury yields climbed.
Bitcoin rose by as much as 2.1 per cent to US$59,849.84, before paring that advance to trade at about US$59,426 as at 10.25pm, New York time (10.25am on the following day, Singapore time). The most-traded crypto token had stabilised in recent days on optimism that exchange-traded funds from titans including BlackRock Inc and Fidelity Investments offer the type of bedrock demand that can temper price swings.
On the impact of the shooting on Trump’s presidential bid, ATFX Global’s chief market analyst Nick Twidale said: “I think it probably increases his chances, and we will probably see some haven flows in the morning.”
Mr Rong Ren Goh, portfolio manager of Eastspring Investments in Singapore, said the shooting is likely to increase support for Trump and “only further augments the positive momentum he has been enjoying following the presidential debates two weeks ago”.
He added: “The market reaction function to a Trump presidency has been characterised by a stronger US dollar and a steepening of the US Treasuries curve, so we might observe some of that this coming week if his election odds are assessed to have further improved following this incident.” BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
