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Bitcoin briefly surged above $70,000 as investors braced for MicroStrategy’s earnings and counted down the days until the U.S. presidential election.
According to Coin Metrics, the price of Bitcoin was last up about 3% to $69,925.00. It reached $70,207.02 around 6pm ET on Monday and has been volatile ever since.
Stocks that are linked to virtual currency prices remained largely unchanged even during after-hours trading. In regular trading on Monday, cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase rose 5%, while Bitcoin agency MicroStrategy rose nearly 9%.
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Bitcoin struggles to regain $70,000 this year
The last time Bitcoin reached $70,000 was in June. It hit a high of $73,797.68 in March and has since tested that level several times this year. Previous investments of over $70,000 have simply failed.
There is growing optimism ahead of next week’s US presidential election. Bitcoin is limited to a narrow range of $55,000 to $70,000. But with stocks hitting new highs this month and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decision set for Election Day on November 5th and again on November 7th, stocks are poised for a breakout. There is a possibility that there are.
Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump has been courting the crypto industry this year, presenting himself as a pro-crypto candidate. Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris has been increasingly silent on cryptocurrencies, and industry opinion is divided on how her presidency will affect crypto companies. The result is widely seen as a key catalyst for Bitcoin prices, but investors will be watching closely as the election approaches. Last week, Bitcoin soared toward $70,000, but ultimately fell short of the threshold.
Elsewhere, investors are keeping an eye on Coinbase and MicroStrategy’s earnings scheduled for Wednesday. On Monday, MicroStrategy, which trades as a high beta for Bitcoin prices, hit its highest close since March 15, 2000.
MicroStrategy is aiming to extend its seven-week winning streak, the longest since Rally, since an 11-week winning streak that ended in late October 2010.
