Summary The price of GBTC moves according to well-defined cycles driven by the halving and global economic trends. The potential rate cut in September could boost the demand for Bitcoin, as has happened in the past. The weakness of the dollar and the current global economic and political turmoil could stimulate the price of GBTC, following a parallel with the price of gold. Maybe you are thinking: 'Ugh... All right, another analyst talking about how great Bitcoin is and how it will revolutionize the financial market.' Yes, here I am, but this time, I will share with you an interesting and particular parallelism that really blew me away. In my opinion, there are many reasons to remain bullish on Bitcoin; a curious combination of Halving, fiscal and monetary policy, global instability, and the emergence of new investment channels in crypto (ETFs) could really lead to a significant explosion in the price of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC). A strange parallelism between halving and market cycles Hasn't anyone noticed a strange parallel between the advent of the halving and the end (or the beginning, depending on the perspective) of a short-term economic cycle, in the style of Ray Dalio? Let me explain better. First of all, everyone knows how halving works ; in simple terms, the BTC halving is a scheduled event that occurs approximately every four years, during which the reward for mining new blocks is halved. Essentially, it is a mechanism designed to control inflation and incentivize the long-term value of Bitcoin. Focus on that: 'designed to control inflation.' In my honest opinion, this slogan behind the Bitcoin ecosystem sounds really good, especially in periods like this. Bitcoin was born in 2008, after the great subprime mortgage crisis, as if it were the answer to a malfunctioning ecosystem, ruled by inefficient mechanisms. I would like to focus your attention on this: every 4 years (on average), the reward for mining new blocks is halved. Do you know Ray Dalio's economic cycle theory ? It divides market cycles into two main categories based on the time frame: the one we are interested in is the short-term cycle. This cycle typically lasts from 5 to 10 years and is based on the normal ups and downs of the economy, driven by expansions and contractions of credit. These cycles are characterized by periods of economic growth followed by recessions, primarily influenced by the monetary policies of central banks. If we consider the last 15 years, starting from 2008, we could say that this 'mini cycle' happened with a 4-year frequency: 2008, 2012, 2018, 2022 (and to be truthful, also in 2020). The Bitcoin halvings have occurred in 2012, 2016, and 2020. It almost seems as though Bitcoin is mocking the traditional economy. When the value of fiat currency decreases due to politics and monetary policy, the value of Bitcoin rises, sustained by mathematics, not policymakers. Why am I bullish on GBTC? Now, I'm really confident about the rise of GBTC. For several reasons, all of which are oriented around the same concept: 'BTC price is destined to go up as long as the traditional ecosystem continues to function like it has in the last decade.' What will likely happen: It is very likely that rates will be lowered in September Everyone is talking about the September interest rate cut. According to the Fed Watch Tool of CME , the probability of this event is 100%; practically, the market is assuming with certainty a rate cut in 2024, as Powell mentioned in the last FOMC meeting. So, traders are trying to price the market considering this event, and naturally, it's causing a downtrend in Treasury yields and a fall in the most speculative markets, like high-tech (Nasdaq 100). Currently, the yield on 10-year Treasuries is around 4.26%, while the price of Fed funds futures for September 2024 is 94.775, which implies an expected interest rate of approximately 5.225%. At present, the Federal Funds rate in the United States is between 5.25% and 5.50%, so the market is currently certain that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting rates in the upcoming meetings. Data by YCharts I'm starting by saying that, historically, cutting interest rates has been associated with a rise in the BTCUSD price. Now, I would like to add another technical consideration before moving on to another point of view: when the market starts to anticipate a Fed rate cut, the BTCUSD price begins to rise. Naturally, Bitcoin has a short data history, but this happened in 2018. To be more specific, when the effective federal funds rate reached its peak, the BTC price started to go up, and the same happened in 2023. After the initial surge, the market began to take profits, and sentiment in the decentralized world declined along with market capitalization. What happens then? A very curious thing occurs: when interest rates start to go down and sentiment returns to a state of fear (as measured by the Fear & Greed Index, which we will look at later), the BTCUSD price surges, reaching new unexpected highs. Data by YCharts The dollar could likely go down I have already explained in this content why I really think that this is not a great moment to be exposed to the dollar. Historically, there's an inverse correlation between the Bitcoin price and the dollar. I believe that when the dollar value, measured by the DXY index or the UUP ETF in this case, starts to go down, the value of assets priced in dollars becomes more attractive to buy. It's an easy commercial mechanism, but in the end, it also regulates the stock market. For example, in this situation, the price of commodities and stocks in emerging markets starts to go up. Even though it's a bit old, I think this article explains the correlations regarding Bitcoin well. Data by YCharts Fear is rising, and global economic and political instability is growing Greed is up, both in the traditional market and in the decentralized market as well. The Fear and Greed index by CNN shows market sentiment very well: the indicator has reached 41 points, the FEAR zone. At the same time, the Fear & Greed Index by CMC is a little better, at 59 points, indicating a neutral zone. This expresses a better sentiment in the cryptocurrency market compared to the stock market, where there is a lot of pessimism now. The reason? In my opinion, it's the great sense of loss among investors. At this moment, political and economic uncertainty reigns supreme. The CME volatility index, VIX, is near its minimum, and after touching the lowest point in the last five years, it suddenly started to rise rapidly. In particular, Bitcoin seems to thrive on political instability, which 'strangely' appears every four years during the US presidential election. Indeed, there is a great correlation between VIX and BTC, but there is a strong positive correlation between BTC and Gold. Gold reacts very well to economic predictions, and Bitcoin, in my opinion, follows with a little latency and much more volatility. Data by YCharts This lack of confidence is like fuel for the crypto market. While many people criticize Bitcoin, affirming that it is not a safe haven like gold, I suggest trying to stop analyzing BTC on a normalized chart and start looking at it on an exponential chart or with its 200-moving average. Trust me, suddenly everything will become clearer GBTC EMA 200, GOLD (SEEKING ALPHA ADVACED CHART) Why GBTC? In this article, I don't want to spend a lot of words explaining why I chose GBTC to invest in Bitcoin; I think you can find a great explanation here . I would like to focus on one thing that is usually undervalued: the weight of an expense ratio. As you may already know, the expense ratio for GBTC is 1.50%, which is higher than its competitors, since the time it was a closed-end fund. There are alternative ETFs on the market with lower costs; one that I also like is iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (( IBIT)) by BlackRock. At the same time, if we consider the performance chart since the launch of the other ETFs, investing 10K in GBTC has yielded more compared to its peers. Maybe tomorrow, the cost of this ETF will eat into its performance, but for now, GBTC remains the most profitable alternative on the market. Data by YCharts What could go wrong? Even though the market is confident, or rather certain, that rates will drop in September, the Federal Reserve has not officially commented on this and will not do so until September. I think that, for several reasons , the Fed will eventually be forced to cut the interest rate. However, if there’s something I hate about the markets, it’s when they discount something with certainty. From the moment this certainty becomes uncertain again (for whatever reason), panic ensues in the market. If the Fed were to postpone the first rate cut in September once again, I think this would not bode well for Bitcoin. In my opinion, it wouldn’t invalidate my thesis, but it would most likely delay the appreciation of the cryptocurrency. Conclusion I think that at this moment, GBTC is one of the best opportunities in the market. I'm bullish on the crypto market, especially on Bitcoin. I'm really confident that this fund could grow in the long term, but at the moment, there are also macroeconomic and mathematical data that support my thesis, and for this reason, I see an alpha to benefit from.

2024-07-27 06:48

More on cryptocurrencies Bitcoin Vs. Ethereum: Similarities, Differences And Considerations SA subscribers' favorite Ethereum ETFs Ethereum's journey from a visionary project to a cornerstone of blockchain tech Spot ether ETFs trade slightly in the red in long-sought market debut

2024-07-26 22:27

More on Bitcoin USD, Ethereum USD, etc. Bitcoin Vs. Ethereum: Similarities, Differences And Considerations Which Spot Ethereum ETF To Buy? Or Buy Ether Directly? Spot Ethereum ETFs Go Live As Ethereum Readies To Lead Altcoin Rally Spot ether ETF launch 'surprisingly successful' amid lower trading activity: CoinShares

2024-07-26 20:18

Summary Semler Scientific acquired 828 BTC for $57 million, spending 90% of their cash reserves on Bitcoin purchases. Market has responded positively to the Bitcoin treasury strategy. SMLR's quant metrics are strong, and the QuantaFlo product has a moat. There is strong potential for increasing BTC per share and accreting value. Semler Scientific ( SMLR ) first announced its Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) treasury strategy on 28 May 2024 and purchased 581 BTC for $40 million. A few days later, on 6 June, it announced an additional purchase of 247 BTC for an aggregate of $17 million. Altogether, SMLR has 828 BTC, acquired for $57 million. Just a month earlier on 7 May 2024, SMLR had announced on their quarterly report a cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash balance of $62.9 million. This means that SMLR has spent about 90% of their cash on BTC purchases. The market has responded very favorably. On 24 May, SMLR closed at $23.32 per share. On 28 May, the day of the initial Bitcoin treasury announcement, SMLR closed at $29 per share. Today, SMLR is about 10% above that point, trading at around $31 to $34 per share. What's particularly curious about this is that SMLR has basically lost money on its BTC purchase for most of the time between 28 May 2024 and today (22 July 2024). 828 BTC acquired for $57 million is an average price of $68,840.5797 per BTC. BTC hasn't been trading over $68,000 for several weeks. The business' balance sheet is literally less valuable because rather than holding onto cash or investing in T-bills, SMLR has incurred an unrealized loss on their cash balance in their BTC position. The adoption of a Bitcoin treasury strategy has many people thinking that SMLR is taking a page out of the MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) playbook. There are obvious parallels, and the question on many people's minds is whether SMLR might be the next MSTR and whether this is a good entry point. Here I analyze the business in light of its new BTC strategy. To answer the question, I don't think this is the next MicroStrategy, but I am bullish on the stock and, in general, any business that is adopting a Bitcoin treasury. Business Here is the description of SMLR on Seeking Alpha: Semler Scientific, Inc. provides technology solutions to enhance the clinical effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare providers in the United States. The company's products include QuantaFlo, a four-minute in-office blood flow test that enables healthcare providers to use blood flow measurements as part of their examinations of a patient's vascular condition. It also offers Insulin Insights, a software program that is used by a healthcare provider to optimize outpatient insulin dosing. The company's products serve cardiologists, internists, nephrologists, endocrinologists, podiatrists, family practitioners, healthcare insurance plans, integrated delivery networks, independent physician groups, and companies contracting with the healthcare industry, such as risk assessment groups and retailers. It offers its products through sales representatives and distributors. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. SMLR's quantitative metrics stand out amongst peers. Here are Seeking Alpha grades on valuation, profitability, and growth. Valuation Grade (Seeking Alpha) Profitability Grades (Seeking Alpha) Growth Grades (Seeking Alpha) Note that SMLR's growth grades are pretty good on a YoY basis, but it lacks grades on a forward basis. This is likely due to the lack of Wall Street analyst coverage: there isn't a forward-looking estimate. The overall growth grade is a D- but that seems to be due to the lack of coverage. The metrics with actual results have warranted B to A- grades. The business has no debt and is paying for operations using its cash flow. The total common equity on the balance sheet has risen from $30 million at the end of 2020 to $78 million in the last report. This is a 160% increase in the book value of equity, on a business that has paid down its debt. Meanwhile, the price to cash flow ratio has been trending down for years, as shown below. SMLR Price to Cash Flow (Seeking Alpha) SMLR frankly seems undervalued here. Its core product, QuantaFlo, is a compact device designed to diagnose peripheral arterial disease (PAD). This noninvasive, painless test takes just a few minutes and operates by measuring blood flow with a sensor clamp attached to the toe or finger. I thought this article was particularly good at getting into the details of the product: Semler Scientific: Great Product Can Still Thrive Post Medicare Advantage I will conclude that revenues from QuantaFlo are mostly safe thanks to its competitive advantage over substitute solutions. It seems to save insurance companies money in doing health evaluations, and it has a patent until 2027, which gives it a decent moat. Let's now talk about the BTC acquisitions. Bitcoin Treasury SMLR has only used its cash reserves to acquire BTC. This is very different from MSTR, which has little cash reserves and is issuing securities to raise money to purchase BTC. MSTR takes on debt, dilutes its shareholders, and even issues convertible debt to purchase BTC. This is an immediately obvious disparity. We can look at a company's Bitcoin treasury with respect to how much of the market cap the BTC occupies. Here we can see a line-up of various companies, and the second column from the right shows the percent of market cap the BTC holdings are responsible for. Bitcoin Treasuries (bitcointreasuries.net) MSTR's BTC represents about 49% of its market cap. Another way to say this is that MSTR trades at roughly 2x its BTC holdings. Marathon Digital Holdings ( MARA ), one of the largest Bitcoin miners in the world, has a BTC treasury that amounts to about a fifth of its market cap. In other words, MARA trades at 5x its BTC holdings. SMLR's BTC represents about 23% of its market cap, so it is trading at a little over 4x its BTC holdings. Can this multiple go higher? I think so. If SMLR levers up the business and buys BTC, then it would be a medical product line with a leveraged BTC fund attached. The cash flows from the medical product can be used to acquire more BTC on a going basis, which increases the BTC per share over time. Leverage is also useful when the duration is long and the interest rate is fixed, because this represents a short position on the currency: you'd effectively pay back the loan with dollars which are worth less than when you took out the loan. Lastly, we can also think of this leverage as increasing the ROE of the business. Something with positive ROE can, assuming a low enough cost of debt capital, grow bigger with leverage while benefiting from interest-based tax deductions. If SMLR issues shares to buy BTC, it can arbitrage the premium of the share price over the BTC holdings and rapidly increase the BTC per share while decreasing the premium. For example, right now, SMLR trades at roughly 4x its BTC holdings, so doubling the shares outstanding would entail issuing what is effectively 2x the value of current BTC holdings, since now, each share would be worth half as much as before, which would allow SMLR to 3x its current BTC treasury (this example is highly illustrative and does not assume things like market impact of purchases of BTC or sale of issued shares; in reality markets will likely try to front-run both events and even volatility). Issuing shares to buy BTC was effectively the MSTR strategy. This has been one factor that has driven down the share premium of MSTR to its BTC holdings: MSTR is only 2x its BTC holdings, while other stocks are 3-5x their BTC holdings. The other factor is that MSTR doesn't have a profitable business model, which means the only way they expand BTC per share is by using the financial engineering of raising fiat via capital markets and then purchasing BTC. Everyone else is basically purchasing using their cash flows (Bitcoin miners are technically purchasing BTC via operating cash flows because they get paid in BTC). Each issuance of new shares to buy BTC will incrementally increase BTC per share, which is extremely value accretive, if BTC succeeds in the long run (and this is the thesis of anyone with a Bitcoin treasury). SMLR can do this too. So far, it has resorted to using excess cash only for its purchases. Here's what Eric Semler, Chairman of SMLR, had to say in an interview with Bitcoin Magazine published two days after the initial PR announcing the Bitcoin treasury: "I couldn't help but notice what MicroStrategy accomplished," Semler Scientific Chairman Eric Semler told Bitcoin Magazine. "It's amazing what they've done. They have this great story of taking a company that was basically trading at the market value - its cash was its complete value - and just turning that cash into a growth asset through their purchases of Bitcoin," he added. "It was a brilliant move on Michael Saylor's part, and he's obviously proven himself with that strategy." While Semler clearly admires Saylor's bold move, he stated that Semler Scientific will approach adding bitcoin to his company's treasury in a way that works best for the company, as he stated that Semler Scientific doesn't plan to stray from its core mission - producing high-quality medical software - as it adopts bitcoin as its primary treasury asset. Later in the same article, it says: Well-versed in capital markets as well as in investing in small- and mid-cap (SMID-cap) businesses - companies like Semler Scientific itself, which has a market cap of about $227 million - Semler knows that SMID-cap companies need to do something if they want to stand out to investors. "It takes a lot for a SMID-cap company to get the attention of investors," explained Semler. It seems that they are doing something to stand out, and the market has definitely noticed and rewarded the stock with significant appreciation. SMLR has always operated quite conservatively. They had no dividend even though they had plenty of cash, and they took no outstanding debt even though it could have boosted ROE. I find it interesting that a week after the initial PR, they filed an S-3 Form to issue $150 million in debt and $50 million in common stock, with the express purpose of buying BTC: S-3 Form (SEC) I think they'll continue to use a portion of free cash flow to buy BTC. Since their business is more diversified from Bitcoin than Bitcoin mining, I expect the market to eventually expand the 4x multiple. SMLR also holds an embedded option to use leverage or issue shares to buy BTC, which would be enormously accretive on a BTC per-share basis, because its premium to underlying BTC is so high. Risks The risks to a BTC strategy is volatility in the share price. BTC is very volatile and if your equity has a leveraged BTC fund attached, then that volatility will leak into the equity. This takes a different kind of investor to hold the stock. If you think BTC is a dubious asset class, then this strategy is of course terrible news. The other risk of SMLR is on the business side. A decline in the demand for QuantaFlo will ultimately disrupt the strong revenue growth that SMLR is used to. Failure to create new products or open new sales funnels of the existing product will also cause stagnation in the company. These risks are very real and could be a reason for the stock trading at just 12x earnings. For what it's worth, SMLR could probably transition to a BTC holdings and acquisition entity, much like what MSTR has become. It would not have the same kind of scale and access to capital because it is still a small-cap company (and this makes it not the next MSTR). But this would be the worst-case scenario where QuantaFlo is disrupted as a viable revenue stream and SMLR cannot find new ways to generate meaningful revenue. The Bottom Line I think SMLR is an interesting business to watch because of its recent Bitcoin treasury decision. I think we'll see more of this in the future from other companies, and early adopters of Bitcoin treasuries are sure to benefit as more companies begin to do the same. I rate this a Buy. I'm expecting the 4x BTC holdings multiple to expand as the company aggressively buys more BTC using its cash flows.

2024-07-26 16:48

Summary On July 23, spot ether ETFs started trading and have carried on the momentum from earlier this year. Nine spot ether ETFs from eight different issuers were approved. Like their spot bitcoin counterparts, most of these products have fee waivers for either the first six to 12 months or a certain amount of assets (anywhere from $500 million to $10 billion). It took a high-profile lawsuit and several years for spot bitcoin ETFs to finally be approved. It was well worth the wait. Over six months later, those ETFs continue to gather interest as more investors understand the complementary nature of crypto and ETFs. On July 23, spot ether ETFs started trading and have carried on the momentum from earlier this year. Here is a look at the first day of trading and what the future could hold for spot ether ETFs. What happened on July 23 Nine spot ether ETFs from eight different issuers were approved: the iShares Ethereum Trust ( ETHA ) , the Fidelity Ethereum Fund ( FETH ) , the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF ( CETH ) , the Bitwise Ethereum ETF ( ETHW ) , the VanEck Ethereum ETF ( ETHV ) , the Franklin Ethereum ETF ( EZET ) , the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF ( QETH ) , the conversion of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ( ETHE ) , and its spinoff the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ( ETH ) . Like their spot bitcoin counterparts, most of these products have fee waivers for either the first six to 12 months or a certain amount of assets (anywhere from $500 million to $10 billion). The post-waiver fee of spot ether ETFs matches the fee of each issuer’s spot bitcoin ETF. Excluding Grayscale, these fees range from 0.19% to 0.25%. ETHE has a fee of 2.5% while its spinoff, ETH has the lowest fee of the group, at 0.15%. These fees are relatively low. That’s especially so when considering that many spot crypto ETFs in other regions have fees in the 1%-2.5% range. It seems issuers are sacrificing margins to stay competitive and potentially become a trusted name in the crypto ETF world. Big first day for spot ether ETFs with over $1B in trading volume After the first trading day, these nine ETFs had over $1 billion in trading volume. (As of the time this note was written, there is not any flow data available … but there likely will be by the time you read this). But if we assume most of the volume in ETHE (Grayscale’s original Ethereum trust) is outflows and the rest of the ETFs have mostly inflows, there would be between $100M to $200M net inflows. To compare, spot bitcoin ETFs traded over $4.5 billion in volume on their first day in January. So first day-spot ether ETF volume is between one-fourth to one-fifth of spot bitcoin volume. This isn’t unexpected. Bitcoin is much more popular than ether, with 54% market dominance versus 17% (according to CoinMarketCap). For many investors, bitcoin has become almost synonymous with crypto and can easily be thought of as digital gold. Ether has arguably more use cases than bitcoin for blockchain technology and digital innovation (see previous research note here ). But the story can be harder to sell and requires more education. More interest ahead if they follow in the footsteps of spot bitcoin Spot bitcoin ETFs have been the most successful ETF launch ever. Yet demand for spot ether ETFs doesn’t have to be record-breaking for it to be impactful. Just over six months later, these ETFs continue to gather assets. And I expect spot ether ETFs to gather more assets over the long term, especially as more investors begin to understand its use case. I think there won’t be too many surprises versus spot bitcoin ETFs. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ( IBIT ) and the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund ( FBTC ) have dominated their peers. I expect iShares’ ETHA and Fidelity’s FETH will likely remain on top as well. Many of these issuers are native crypto players and have been deeply involved in the industry. But we cannot underestimate what brand names mean to traditional retail investors. That’s particularly so because a large issuer can sometimes make investing in a higher-risk asset like ether seem more acceptable. While the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF ( ARKB ) was the third-most in-demand spot bitcoin ETF, I was surprised to see 21Shares CETH at the bottom of the spot ether list. It seems ARK pulling out of the product affected its popularity. Though 21Shares is a huge player in the crypto universe with a good reputation of its own (more on this later). Lastly, Grayscale has more of chance to dominate this time around. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (BTC) has experienced over $18.7B in net outflows YTD mostly due to its high fee (1.5% vs. 0.20%-0.25% for its peers). But Grayscale spun off ETH from ETHE and will spin off the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) from GBTC on July 31. Both of these spinoffs will only have a 0.15% fee and will have a higher amount of assets to start. That will make these an attractive option for investors. ETH, for instance, launched with the most assets besides ETHE. When BTC launches, it will have the sixth-highest amount of assets relative to its peers (after GBTC, IBIT, FBTC, ARKB, and BITB). Two types of spot crypto ETF is a lot different than one Approval of one type of spot crypto ETF (e.g., bitcoin) can be considered an exception. Two kinds of spot crypto ETFs (e.g., bitcoin and now ether) is not necessarily a rule — but it is close. Some issuers are already eyeing Solana ETFs (see previous coverage here ). So it isn’t unreasonable to assume this ecosystem will continue to grow as it does in other countries. In a recent note, I published a chart that included all issuers involved in the U.S. cryptomarket. I’ve simplified that to just include spot products (including tentative filings). The list becomes more narrow, with only a few overlapping: bitcoin, ether, and Solana. This list is not exclusive, however. And many issuers may be waiting for the spot ether launch to end before focusing on other types of crypto ETFs, like Solana. I think it’s very likely some of these issuers will attempt to create a suite of crypto ETFs (if allowed by the SEC). 21Shares and VanEck, for example, have crypto suites in other geographical areas like Europe. VanEck offers 12 crypto exchange traded products in Europe. And 21Shares has an even broader offering. Grayscale also offers its line of trusts in the U.S. (GBTC and ETHE were previously part of this line-up) including a Solana trust and Litecoin trust. I would not be surprised if these eventually get converted to ETFs (once again, if it is allowed by the SEC). There are a few roadblocks with the SEC — like security versus commodity classification. Then there’s also the question of demand and whether ETF investors are focusing on additional digital assets beyond bitcoin and ether. Solana has only 3.5% market dominance compared to 71% for bitcoin and ether combined. These figures tend to align with product demand. For instance, the VanEck bitcoin ETN in Europe has $457 million in net assets, followed by $165 million in net assets for its ethereum ETN, and only $77 million in net assets for its Solana ETN. Bottom Line The crypto ETF market has come a long way, and barring any legal roadblocks, may continue to thrive with potentially more products past bitcoin and ether spot ETFs. The spot ether ETF launch has proven that investors do have interest in cryptocurrencies outside of bitcoin. And with more education and resources, we can expect that interest to grow rather than fade away. Original Post

2024-07-26 15:00

Donald Trump, who once called bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) a scam and cryptocurrencies a "disaster waiting to happen," is set to show his support for the industry this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. The Republican presidential nominee will deliver a keynote address at the Bitcoin 2024 convention on Saturday, a three-day event that's touted as the world's largest BTC conference. Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance have been courting votes and donations with the promise of lighter crypto regulation, as opposed to the Biden administration's crackdown that has upset the industry. Trump is the first major presidential candidate to accept crypto donations. He raised over $4M through crypto donations, a campaign aide told CNBC . The donations have been in the form of bitcoin ( BTC-USD ), ether ( ETH-USD ), Ripple's XRP ( XRP-USD ), stablecoin USDC ( USDC-USD ) and various memecoins. Notable crypto advocates who donated include the Winklevoss twins; Mike Belshe, CEO of digital asset security firm BitGo; Jesse Powell, founder of crypto exchange Kraken; and Ripple's legal chief Stuart Alderoty. Crypto sentiment has been improving this month, especially after the assassination attempt on Trump that raised his odds of winning the election and drove the so-called 'Trump Trade.' A Trump presidency would be great for bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) as his administration would likely adopt more favorable policies, according to Jon de Wet, CIO at digital asset firm ZeroCap. More on Trump Trade Bitcoin now higher after Biden announcement dip; stock futures eyed Trumponomics: Trump details plan for economy, Wall Street and foreign policy Trump Trade: Top 5 Stocks If Trump Wins The Election (SA Quant)

2024-07-26 11:37