Bitcoin price hits six-week high after Trump backs cryptocurrency

Bitcoin has hit its highest level in more than six weeks after Donald Trump said at the weekend he would end the “persecution” of the crypto industry if he wins the US presidential election.

The cryptocurrency’s price rose by more than 3% on Monday to peak at about $69,745, the highest it has been since 12 June when the currency at one point changed hands at more than $69,800.

The price rise comes after supportive comments from Trump at the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville, Tennessee, where he said on Saturday he would make the US the world’s cryptocurrency leader and embrace a more pro-bitcoin stance than his rival Kamala Harris.

The former president said: “I pledge to the bitcoin community, that the day I take the oath of office, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s anti-crypto crusade will be over.”

Trump added: “If we don’t embrace crypto and bitcoin technology, China will, other countries will. They’ll dominate, and we cannot let China dominate. They are making too much progress as it is.”

He also said he would sack Gary Gensler, the head of the US financial watchdog the Securities and Exchange Commission, on the first day of his presidency if he wins the election. “On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler,” Trump said, to cheers of approval from the audience.

Gensler is a noted sceptic about cryptocurrencies, despite aiding them in January by approving exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – a basket of assets that can be bought and sold like shares on an exchange – that track the price of bitcoin. Gensler said in a statement approving the ETFs that bitcoin was a “speculative, volatile” asset used for illegal activities including ransomware and terrorist financing. Since 2023 the SEC has launched more than 40 crypto-related enforcement actions.

Speaking at the bitcoin convention, Trump said he would establish a crypto presidential advisory council and create a national “stockpile” of bitcoin using cryptocurrency the US government holds that was largely seized in law enforcement actions.

“Never sell your bitcoin,” Trump said. “If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, the United States of America, to keep 100% of all the bitcoin the US government currently holds or acquires into the future.”

The Financial Times also reported on Saturday that Harris’s advisers have approached top crypto companies in a bid to “reset” the relationship between the Democratic party and the sector. Approaches have been made to the Coinbase crypto exchange, the stablecoin company Circle and the blockchain payments group Ripple Labs, the FT said.