Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has risen 2% and is at a six-week high of nearly $70,000 U.S. after former U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a speech on cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is currently trading at $69,630 U.S. Other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL), are also rising to start the trading week.
The move higher comes after Trump spoke at the “Bitcoin 2024” conference over the weekend and promised to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” if he is re-elected president.
Trump also said that he will order the U.S. government to refrain from selling cryptocurrencies seized in criminal cases and instead use the tokens to build a “strategic Bitcoin stockpile.”
The former president’s speech at the Bitcoin conference held in Nashville, Tennessee marked an about face for Trump who previously called crypto “a scam.”
However, Trump stopped short of promising to establish an official U.S. Bitcoin strategic reserve currency during his keynote address, something crypto bulls have been calling for from political leaders.
Cryptocurrency prices are also getting a lift from expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin lowering interest rates this September, a move that is expected to be a tailwind for crypto.
Bitcoin’s price is now approaching its all-time high of just under $74,000 U.S. reached in March of this year as a new crop of spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) drove the value upwards.
