Bitcoin hit its highest level since mid-June after Donald Trump expressed increasing support for cryptocurrencies and expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut boosted investor sentiment.
The largest digital asset rose 2.6% on Monday to $69,462 at 11:40 a.m. in Singapore. Smaller cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Solana, as well as meme-friendly Dogecoin, also rose.
Republican presidential candidate Trump pledged at a rally over the weekend to make the United States the cryptocurrency capital of the planet and a Bitcoin superpower if he returns to the White House after the November election.
Trump also said he would order the U.S. government to stop selling cryptocurrencies seized in criminal cases and instead use them as the basis for what he called a strategic bitcoin reserve.
Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group, wrote in a note that the former president’s speech at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville boosted the native cryptocurrency and made it a major election issue.
Meanwhile, this week's Federal Reserve meeting is expected to lay the groundwork for the start of a rate-cutting cycle, potentially lifting market sentiment.
Bitcoin is now about $4,400 below its record high of nearly $74,000 in March, and inflows into U.S. exchange-traded funds have boosted the token this year.
