Bitcoin Rises as Trump Shooting Seen Increasing Re-Election Odds

(Bloomberg) — Bitcoin is gaining value after the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally, sparking speculation that the incident could boost his chances of winning the presidential election.

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The former president, who positions himself as pro-crypto, said he was shot in the right ear after a gunfight broke out at his political rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. His campaign team said he was “fine” after the incident and was looking forward to attending the Republican National Convention, which begins in Milwaukee on Monday.

Trump’s chances of being re-elected as president have increased after today’s developments, according to PredictIt data. After the attack, images of a defiant Trump with his fist raised above his head, his right ear bloodied and an American flag waving in the background have been spreading rapidly on social media and television.

The Trump campaign said he would attend the convention. President Joe Biden said he was glad Trump was safe and condemned the violence.

Markets are likely to respond with higher volatility and could repeat the trades used when last month’s debate went in Trump’s favor, in which case the U.S. dollar gained and Treasury yields rose.

Bitcoin rose as much as 2.1% to $59,849.84 before settling at around $59,426 as of 10:25 p.m. New York time. The most-traded crypto token has steadied in recent days on optimism that ETFs from giants such as BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investments are providing the kind of underlying demand that can smooth price swings.

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