Markets
Bitcoin Surges Past $62,500 After Trump Shooting
Bitcoin climbs to over $62,500 following the weekend attack on Donald Trumpwhich also appears to have boosted the former president’s chances of winning a second term in November. After establishing himself as the pro-crypto candidate over President Joe Biden, Trump’s election prospects have become a bellwether for the cryptocurrency market. BTC has gained over 7% since the failed assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. At the time of writing, its price is $62,476, up 3.95% in the last 24 hours. The broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), is up 3.32%.
The probability of Donald Trump taking back the White House reached a record level Saturday after the shooting at the Pennsylvania rally, according to traders at Polymarket. The “Yes” shares of Polymarket’s contract on Trump winning the presidency jumped 10 cents after the incident to 70 cents, meaning the market now sees a 70% chance that he will prevail in the November election. Each share yields $1 if the prediction comes true, and zero if it doesn’t. Meme tokens bearing Trump’s name also surged after the shooting. MAGA, for example, rose 34% on a 24-hour basis to $8.38, according to CoinGecko data, and satirical TREMP added 67% to $0.6471. BODEN, a joke asset bearing Biden’s name, slid about 15% on a 24-hour basis to $0.0333115.
Alexey Pertsev, co-founder and developer of Tornado Cash, Bail was denied by a Dutch court on Friday. Pertsev’s lawyers had requested bail to allow the Russian to prepare for his appeal proceedings, but the court said that “his continued detention does not hinder his ability to prepare his defense,” Keith Cheng, Pertsev’s lawyer, said, according to the report. Pertsev was convicted of money laundering by a Dutch judge at the s-Hertogenbosch court in May and was sentenced to 64 months in prison by the court. The verdict sent shockwaves through the community, leaving many outraged. The case has been described as the most pivotal legal case in the cryptocurrency space.