The price of Bitcoin (BTC) and several Donald Trump-inspired meme coins surged on Sunday following an assassination attempt on the former United States president while he was speaking on stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump, who has expressed wholehearted support for cryptocurrencies in recent months, is scheduled to speak at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville this month, ahead of the US elections set to be held in November.
BTC, Trump-Themed Meme Coins React To Shooting
Former President Donald Trump was swiftly whisked from the stage minutes into his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday after gunshots were heard. He crouched down and was quickly surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents before rising to his feet with blood on the side of his head and ear, pumping his fist in the air.
A Secret Service spokesperson said that the presumptive Republican incumbent is safe. The incident reportedly injured Trump’s right ear and resulted in the death of one spectator. CNN reports that law enforcement is treating the incident as an assassination attempt, and the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed.
Bitcoin climbed from a price of $58,335 and reached as high as $60,373, per CoinGecko data. That’s the highest price the preeminent cryptocurrency has achieved in the past week, though it’s settled at $60,026 as of publication time.
The Ethereum-based MAGA meme coin rocketed from a price of $6.30 to $10.40 immediately after the assassination attempt, seeing its total market cap rise from around $290 million to $470 million in less than an hour, as per data compiled by DexScreener.
Solana-based meme coin Tremp (TREMP) also rallied over 60% following the shooting news, while another meme asset named MAGA Hat (MAGA) momentarily soared 20% during the same timeframe.
Meanwhile, BODEN, a joke token named after President Joe Biden, tumbled roughly 23.2% over 24 hours to $0.03146.
Trump’s Re-Election Odds Hit All-Time High
Trump’s odds of returning to the White House increased to a new record high of 71% after the assassination attempt. Meanwhile, Biden’s probability of winning has remained rather low. His chances plummeted after a faltering debate performance put a spotlight on his age, falling from 34% to a mere 16%.
Trump has turned increasingly pro-crypto on the campaign trail. That stance has garnered massive financial support from renowned crypto executives — including the founders of the Gemini exchange, the Winklevoss twins, and Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell — who have donated large sums in crypto.
The ex-POTUS has vowed to put an end to the Biden administration’s “war on crypto” if reelected. In surviving an assassination attempt, some crypto investors and bettors hope it will be a boon for Trump’s campaign in the months ahead — and if he returns to the Oval Office, cryptocurrency propounders anticipate smoother regulatory sailing compared to a second Biden term.
As ZyCrypto reported previously, Trump will be speaking at the upcoming Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 27. His forthcoming speech will probably further burnish his self-assigned image as a crypto champion.
Banking giant Standard Chartered believes Trump’s victory could boost Bitcoin’s value to the ambitious $150K highs because of his crypto-friendly stance.
