Stimulus checks spent on Bitcoin are now up 35%

Those who purchased Bitcoin with their coronavirus stimulus checks have already profited to the tune of 35%.

When the US government checks arrived in mid-April, many announced their intention to splurge on guns, tigers and Bitcoin. This was not long after the price of Bitcoin was cut in half over two days in March.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong provided data which showed a near four-fold increase in the number of Bitcoin purchases on the exchange worth exactly $1,200—the same amount as the stimulus check—on the day they were handed out.

Now, Bitcoin buyers have seen returns of 35% in just a few weeks. That’s based on a buy-in price of $6,674 on April 13, when the first batch of stimulus checks were rolled out.

The price of Bitcoin continued to climb all throughout April, and at the time of writing one Bitcoin is now worth $9,000.

In an unprecedented move, the US Treasury ordered President Donald Trump’s name to be printed on the stimulus checks. Now, those who invested their “Trump change” in Bitcoin are celebrating their victory on Reddit.

However, some suggested that victory may only be a short-term one, “Let’s see if you still have the same gain on May the 13th,” said one commenter on Reddit. That refers to the day after the Bitcoin block reward halving—an event still riddled with uncertainty. On this day, the new supply of Bitcoin will be cut in half, making life harder for Bitcoin miners.

Notably, much of the altcoin market performed better than Bitcoin over the past few weeks. Given DigiByte’s (DGB) recent ascension up the market cap top 100, putting “Trump change” into DGB on April 13 would have netted 249% gains by now.

As always, caution is warranted when throwing money at the cryptocurrency market—not least amid a pandemic. Throwing the stimulus check money on Bitcoin appears to have paid off for now, but with such a volatile price, it is truly a gamble.