The price of Bitcoin spiked Saturday immediately following reports that former United States president Donald Trump—the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 election—was attacked at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Bitcoin climbed from a price of $58,337 and reached as high as $59,796 in less than an hour, per data from CoinGecko. That's the highest price that Bitcoin has seen in the last week, though it's down to $59,524 as of this writing.
But Bitcoin's gains look incredibly modest compared to the largest meme coins inspired by Trump, all of which saw dramatic price jumps after the news broke. As of this writing, TREMP has maintained the largest gains, up 71% over the last 24 hours at a price of $0.66. TRUMP is up 39% today, while MAGA has climbed by 33%.
Trump was speaking at a campaign rally when loud noises reportedly resembling gunshots or explosions broke out, and the former president reached for his ear. He ducked down to the ground and was immediately surrounded by Secret Service agents before rising to his feet with blood on his face.
The Secret Service has said that Trump is safe. CNN reports that law enforcement sources are treating the incident as an assassination attempt, and that sources within the Secret Service say that the shooter was killed by the agency.
Meme coin prices are highly volatile and can be swayed by social media sentiment and real-world events—so it's no surprise that Trump-inspired tokens jumped. But why would the price of Bitcoin climb after this news?
Trump has come out as vocally pro-crypto in recent months, setting him apart from his challenger in the upcoming election, current president Joe Biden. In surviving an apparent assassination attempt, some crypto investors and bettors expect that it will benefit his campaign in the months ahead—and if he wins the election, crypto advocates expect smoother regulatory sailing than in a second Biden term.
Odds Trump wins just hit another all-time high. pic.twitter.com/gYVZOAOPYu
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) July 14, 2024
Bettors on leading crypto prediction market platform Polymarket boosted Trump's chances of winning the election, shooting from a 60% chance before the attack to as high as 71% soon after. It's currently at 67%, with Biden being given a 15% chance by bettors. Polymarket said that Trump's odds hit an all-time high Saturday.