Bitcoin has resumed its march higher after seeing some wild swings over the course of the U.S. election.
The bitcoin price has jumped 5% over the last 24 hours, climbing to $14,560 per bitcoin on the Luxembourg-based bitcoin and cryptocurrency Bitstamp exchange—and moving in line with equity markets that have rallied as Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden said he expects to gain enough states to win the White House.
Other top ten cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, Ripple’s XRP, chainlink, and litecoin, have also made gains of between 1% and 5%, boosted by bitcoin’s strong performance.
The bitcoin price has climbed this week, reaching highs not seen since the late 2017 bitcoin bubble … [+]
The bitcoin price fell sharply as polls closed on Tuesday, with early signs showing that U.S. president Donald Trump could pull off a polling upset and win the election. Trump is projected to win 23 states, including Texas, Ohio and Florida, outperforming pollsters’ predictions.
“Bitcoin has recovered from its post-election drop, crossing the $14,000 level once more,” John Kramer, trader at market-maker GSR, said via email, adding that “the U.S. dollar was initially stronger as a Trump victory became a possibility, but has tailed off since then as Biden’s numbers improve.”
Vote counting is still underway in a handful of key battleground states across the U.S. which will determine the outcome of the election—and the extent of any future stimulus deal.
“We may not know what a post-election stimulus may look like, but investors continue to believe that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep printing money at a pace that favors bitcoin’s finite supply,” Kramer added.
Bitcoin has a fixed supply of just 21 million bitcoin token, something that has been put into sharp contrast against unprecedented government money printing, quantitative easing and stimulus measures launched this year, designed to offset the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
The bitcoin price has soared toward $15,000, a level not seen since early 2018.
Bitcoin has doubled in price so far this year, finding support from a number of high-profile traditional investors looking to hedge against the inflation they see coming.
“Bitcoin has proven its extreme resilience during complex geopolitical events and this has come to the fore during the tumultuous U.S. election,” Paolo Ardoino, CTO at bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, said via email.
“Regardless of the result of the election, it could be said that we are witnessing a growing recognition of bitcoin’s unique qualities as we adjust to just the sort of challenging times that the world’s biggest cryptocurrency was invented for.”