Trump Assassination Attempt Pumps Crypto But is Hysteria Ever Sustainable?

Just when we thought the Trump vs Biden battle couldn't get any more outlandish, someone's actually gone and taken a pop at the former US president.

Clearly not a fan of the Republican Party's presidential candidate, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks took matters into his own hands by attempting to remove Trump from the race.

However, Crooks, now deceased, failed to unalive the presidential contender and instead clipped Trump's ear and took out two innocent bystanders.

After weeks of flexing his support for crypto and even declaring himself as the "Crypto President," Trump has quickly become the crypto crowd's favourite, serving as the antithesis to Biden's more stringent-a-la-Gensler approach.

News of the assassination attempt only strengthened Trump's chances of a victory in November and consequently provided a boost to the crypto market including Bitcoin, but especially Trump-related memecoins. MAGA soared more than 60% following the news, while Bitcoin continues to rally beyond $63K.

Trump Trade Kicks In

Bitcoin inflows of $737.5 million into 11 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through Thursday last week stabilised the token at $58,000.

This was a relief, considering the previous drop to $53,602 on July 5, caused by worries about potential sell-offs from creditors of the defunct Mt. Gox exchange and the sale of confiscated coins by Germany. Now, Bitcoin's as a result of both the inflows and the pro-crypto ex-president's incident has pushed Bitcoin to gain over 15% over the past week.

Trump is touted as the most crypto-friendly global leader. Apart from his regular admissions and comments favouring cryptos in the run-up to his presidential campaign, Trump is set to appear at a Bitcoin conference this month. This showcases his increasing support of the cryptocurrency business.

On Wednesday, the event organiser, BTC Media LLC, announced that the Republican presidential candidate is scheduled to speak on the main stage in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 27.

Market analysts predict that after former Trump escaped an assassination attempt, investors would prioritize conventional safe-haven assets and maybe put their money into trades that are most related to his prospects of becoming president.

With him favouring crypto, Bitcoin is now expected to remain in the driver's seat. Trump's campaign accepts digital assets, and previously, a source indicated that Trump had a conversation on crypto policy with billionaire Elon Musk.

Arthur Hayes Says "Poppycock"

Trump's crypto hysteria is captivating the industry. Degens on Polymarket have strengthened their Trump allegiance following last weekend's events, displaying a 71% probability of a November win.

However, Trump hasn't won over the entirety of the crypto space. One sceptic comes in the form of the often unfiltered Arthur Hayes. In a blog post, the former BitMEX CEO said he was "dismayed that many crypto pundits who should know better are now blindly throwing fancy fundraisers for the Trump campaign."

"They erroneously believe that Trump is sincere and that if they just donate enough money, Operation Chokehold Crypto will vanish," he added, describing the belief as "poppycock."

“Trump is an astute politician,” he continued. “He will say whatever to whoever is to be re-elected. Once in office, anything related to crypto will be a distant memory.”

Instead, Hayes recommends that crypto holders unite as a voting block and put pressure on Democrats to pass pro-crypto bills in return for votes.

“The best time to get concrete results is before the November election,” Hayes said.

Last week, the Houses of Congress failed to overthrow Biden's veto of a pro-crypto accounting bill. Failing to achieve a two-thirds majority from both houses of Congress in a 228-184, US lawmakers were unsuccessful in countering Biden's veto. 21 Democrats and 207 Republicans voted yes but 183 Democrats and one Republican voted no.

Known as Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 121, the rule requires companies to list crypto assets on their balance sheets, increasing the expense for financial institutions to deal with cryptocurrencies.

The Senate voted 60-38 to withdraw the policy but Biden said in a statement, "By virtue of invoking the Congressional Review Act, this Republican-led resolution would inappropriately constrain the SEC’s ability to set forth appropriate guardrails and address future issues."

"This reversal of the considered judgment of SEC staff in this way risks undercutting the SEC’s broader authorities regarding accounting practices."

Political Resistance or Bitcoin Resistance

In what will undoubtedly go down as a historic image of political resistance, Trump was captured on screen as he rose valiantly from the ground moments after being shot, with his fist in the air mouthing the words, "Fight, fight, fight!"

Although we're not entirely sure who or what Trump was encouraging his supporters to "fight," the former President's valor to emerge covered in blood seconds after the attack has been recognized as one of resistance, galvanizing his home base and cementing his backing for a November win.

Good news for crypto then, unless you're in the Arthur Hayes camp. But in any case, Trump's political resistance might not be realized before Bitcoin reaches its own resistance.

BRN analyst Valentin Fournier explained that the assassination attempt on Trump "strengthened his chances of winning the presidential election, which is expected to have positive consequences for cryptocurrencies."

"As American trading hours led to corrections in previous weeks, their reaction to the wide increase over the previous days will be important to watch. The positive climate could lead to an acceleration of the movement, but the $64K resistance is likely to hold it back."

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