Cryptocurrencies surged on Monday, with Bitcoin climbing nearly 9% to $62,760, reaching its highest level in two weeks and marking a 47% increase since the beginning of the year. Ether also saw a significant rise, gaining over 7% to reach $3,336.80. Additionally, the U.S. dollar and American bonds strengthened amid growing expectations of Donald Trump's victory in the upcoming U.S. presidential election following a failed assassination attempt.
Trump reported that he was shot in the ear during an attack at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. His campaign stated that he was in good condition. Some investors believe the attack has bolstered his chances of reclaiming the White House, and trading bets on his victory are expected to increase this week.
Trump is competing against Democratic President Joe Biden in the November elections and has criticized Democrats' efforts to regulate the cryptocurrency sector. During a fundraising event in San Francisco last June, Trump presented himself as a supporter of cryptocurrencies, although he did not provide details about his proposed crypto policies.
Trump is scheduled to speak at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 27, according to the conference organizers last week. Erin Osman, Managing Director of Wealth Management at Arbuthnot Latham, stated that a likely Trump victory would be seen as positive for risk assets, noting a strong Bitcoin rally since the weekend. Bitcoin had a strong start to the year following the launch of exchange-traded funds in the U.S., pushing it to a record high of $73,803.25 in mid-March, but it has faced challenges since then.
Dollar Strengthens
In related news, the U.S. dollar broadly strengthened on Monday, with limited trading during Asian hours due to a public holiday in Japan. News of the shooting of Trump dominated market sentiment. The dollar's rise pushed the euro down 0.14% to $1.0895, and the British pound fell 0.09% to $1.2978.
Among other currencies, the Australian dollar declined 0.13% to $0.6775, while the New Zealand dollar dropped 0.3% to $0.6100. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was little changed at 104.20. The Chinese yuan was largely unaffected by local economic data and continued its losses, falling 0.13% to 7.2602 per dollar in the domestic market. The yen gave up some of its gains from late last week, trading at 157.95 per dollar, though it remained near its highest level in nearly a month of 157.30 reached on Friday.
It is believed that Tokyo intervened in the market to support the struggling Japanese yen last week following a lower-than-expected U.S. inflation report. Bank of Japan data suggests authorities may have spent up to 3.57 trillion yen ($22.4 billion) to support the currency on Thursday.
Source: Reuters
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