Bitcoin rebounds to $67K ahead of Trump’s speech in Nashville

Bitcoin has recovered most of its losses from the week as traders wait to see what happens when former United States President Donald Trump takes the stage at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville. 

“Nobody wants to head short Bitcoin into the weekend,” 10xResearch CEO Markus Thielen wrote in a July 25 analyst note.

Thielen explained that there are high expectations that Trump might announce plans for a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve at the Bitcoin Conference on July 27 should he be elected as the US President this year.

Thielen believes future traders are holding off on taking short positions on Bitcoin because they fear its price may surge.

“Because if Trump announced a strategic reserve, Bitcoin would gap higher,” Thielen told Cointelegraph.

Future trader positions are heavily skewed toward long positions. Even a slight retrace back to $65,000 will put $1.11 billion worth of long positions at risk, according to CoinGlass data.

“He is undoubtedly eyeing the powerful crypto lobby, which has raised $150 million for the Crypto Super PAC,” Thielen stated.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $66,985, up 4.42% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.

Thielen noted that the US Treasury has gold reserves valued at $600 billion, while the government has confiscated Bitcoin worth $15 billion.

However, there’s a chance Trump might reveal his intentions to adjust the balance between the two assets, according to Thielen.

“Trump could indicate his intention to increase this ratio to about 10% of the gold reserves, if not higher,” he stated.

He predicts that even a mention of this could cause the market to “run with this news” without needing to wait until November for Trump’s confirmation as president.

Cointelegraph recently reported that asset manager Bryan Courchesne said adopting Bitcoin as a reserve asset would be difficult but not impossible.

Courchesne explained that the Department of Justice could simply transfer the confiscated Bitcoin to the US Department of the Treasury, paving the way for the Treasury to begin accumulating and holding the scarce asset long-term.