In the early morning hours this Friday, US President Donald Trump confirmed that he and his wife Melania have tested positive for COVID-19. Straight after the announcement, the stock market from all around the world went into a period of turbulence. The S&P 500 futures in the US went down by 2%; in Australia, ASX All Ordinaries fell by 1.35%, and so on.
The price of bitcoin also dropped by nearly 2%. Last night, it hit the $10,678 mark, before dropping to $10,400 immediately after Trump’s announcement.
Yesterday, the price of BTC went to almost $10,900, before dropping just before noon EDT. The reason for this was that the BitMEX owner Arthur Hayes got indicted by the US officials on criminal charges regarding derivatives trading.
The BTC price recovered slightly in the afternoon, only to drop down again as a reaction to the Trump COVID-19 news. These drops are just some in the series of recent price changes happening due to what’s been going on in the United States. The most remarkable price change last week happened right after the Presidential Debate on Tuesday.
The BTC Price Drop After Presidential Debate
A day before the Debate, the price of 1 BTC was over $10,921 at one point. However, immediately after the Trump-Biden clash, it dropped to $10,669. The trend followed within 24 hours after the debate, eventually going to below $10,500.
Although economic uncertainty seems to be going in favor of bitcoin, the uncertainly about the status of cryptos does not. And no one seems to have any clue what the two candidates have in their minds bitcoin-wise.
Donald Trump has already come out as a bitcoin antagonist, suggesting that they are mainly used for criminal activities. Still, Trump’s bitcoin polices have yet to be embodied in legislation. Since he’s been the president, no major anti-crypto laws have been passed in the United States.
Joe Biden, on the other hand, has kept himself almost completely silent on the subject of digital currencies. However, there is a Biden campaigning committee that accepts crypto donations, suggesting that the Presidential challenger is not a big opponent of the technology.
No Politics at Coinbase
Even though politics has a huge impact on the value of cryptocurrencies, there are some people involved in the crypto industry who want to stay away from politics as far as possible. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is one of them.
Last Sunday, Armstrong published a blog post stating that the Coinbase employees are no longer allowed to discuss politics at work. According to him, the company wants to stay focused on work, rather than getting distracted during the election period. It may sound like a reasonable decision, but it has sparked reactions from other big names in the crypto universe.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was one of the most vocal critics of this decision, explaining that political activism is not a matter of business, but a matter of life. Dorsey also called the Coinbase employees to leave if they don’t agree with Armstrong’s new policies.
