30s Summary

Bitcoin’s value has reached a two-and-a-half-month high, coinciding with increased election odds for former President Trump. Many in the crypto industry see Trump as more supportive of blockchain innovation, causing Bitcoin’s value to rise by almost 10% in one week. However, not all agree that this surge is due to Trump’s popularity. Meanwhile, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index has risen from “fear” to “neutral”, indicating improving investor sentiment towards the digital currency.

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Bitcoin’s value is at its highest in over two and a half months, with some folks saying this boost is tied to the improving election odds of former President Donald Trump.

In just the last week, the value of Bitcoin surged almost 10%. It jumped past the $68,200 mark, a value it hasn’t hit since July – that’s according to data from Cointelegraph.

The Bitcoin surge came right after Trump’s popularity started growing in the decentralized predictions market. As of October 16, 11:41 AM UTC, Trump’s chances of winning the US presidential elections were at 60.2%, while Vice President Kamala Harris sat at 39.8%. That’s based on data from Polymarket.

Many view Trump as more supportive of innovations in the crypto world. Some even fear that a Harris presidency might stifle blockchain innovation with stricter regulations.

However, not everyone agrees that the Bitcoin spike is because of Trump’s growing popularity. For example, famous economist Peter Schiff called it a “meaningless, Trump-inspired” rally. He says while everyone’s making a big deal out of the Bitcoin value increase, they’re missing the bigger story of gold hitting record highs.

This uptick in Trump’s popularity started around October 4, when leading by over 10 points. Shortly after, the Bitcoin value started a rally of its own, jumping up by more than 13% since hitting a monthly low on October 10.

And it’s not just Schiff. There are others in the industry who also see this link between Trump’s election odds and Bitcoin’s value. As Thomas Fahrer, CEO of crypto-focused review platform Apollo, puts it, “For every 1% rise in Trump’s probability of winning, Bitcoin price rises by $1K.”

Furthermore, Trump’s chances seem to also be influencing how investors feel about crypto. Around the same time that Trump’s popularity was on the rise, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index switched from “fear” to “neutral”. Since then, it’s been skyrocketing, now sitting at 73, signaling investor “greed”.

This index is a tool used to measure how folks feel about the crypto market. In this case, it shows that investor sentiment has been improving.

Source: Cointelegraph