Cryptocurrency fever: Trump’s bitcoin plan, record mining and a successful ether ETF
US politicians are now overreaching on the issue of bitcoin in strategic reserves. Bitcoin mining reached new records, ether ETFs had their first week and USDT issuer reports record profits. We bring you another weekly roundup in cryptocurrencies.
At the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Donald Trump gave a long-awaited speech that lived up to expectations. Trump promised everyone everything to get their votes, which was evident in his promises about bitcoin.
“If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration to retain 100% of all bitcoins currently held or acquired by the U.S. government in the future. This will serve as the core of a strategic national bitcoin stockpile,” Trump said.
Trump compared the bitcoin market to the steel industry and expressed great respect for the bitcoin community, with a vision that bitcoin will one day surpass gold. Data from Arkham Intelligence showed that a wallet labeled “U.S. Government: Silk Road DOJ” transferred 29,800 bitcoins to an unmarked address, leading to speculation that the government may sell the bitcoins to Trump. However, that speculation has not been confirmed.
At the same conference, Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced the Bitcoin Act of 2024, a bill that would allow the purchase of bitcoins as U.S. strategic reserves, funded by the Fed’s revaluation of gold. The proposal includes the establishment of a decentralised network of secure bitcoin repositories across the US.
Robert F. Kennedy, another presidential candidate, has promised an executive order to buy 550 bitcoins a day until the U.S. collects at least four million bitcoins, which would represent nearly 20 percent of the total bitcoin supply.
Bitcoin mining reached a new record when the seven-day hashrate average reached 667 exahash per second (EH/s). A higher hashrate means more competition among miners, making the network more resilient to manipulation. Miners are also selling their bitcoins less, reflecting confidence in the long-term value of bitcoin.
Ether ETFs had their first week with inconsistent results. BlackRock’s ETHA fund led with net inflows of $442 million, while Grayscale’s ETHE fund saw net outflows of $1.5 billion, partly due to higher fees.
Tether, the issuer of the largest USDT stablecoin, reported a record net profit of $5.2 billion for the first half of the year, largely due to profitable investments in U.S. Treasury bonds. Despite the controversy surrounding the USDT reserve audit, Tether is demonstrating financial strength and stability.
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