On Sunday, Donald Trump paved the way for Bitcoin to hit $500,000 by sharing more details about his planned national crypto reserve.
That’s according to UK bank Standard Chartered’s Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoffrey Kendrick.
He argued that the rally triggered by the president’s announcement signals that the White House is actively putting its thumb on the scales in favour of digital assets.
This is “the first solid data point of a Trump Put for crypto,” wrote Kendrick, suggesting that like the Federal Reserve, Trump will step in to buoy markets if they drop sharply.
Trump’s announcement came against the backdrop of protracted negative sentiment in the crypto markets.
That was due to a confluence of factors including renewed fears over tariffs, the largest hack in crypto history, impatience over Trump’s crypto policy timeline, and the winding down of a favourite trade among Bitcoin traders.
$3.2 trillion
The crypto market jumped 11% after Trump said he’d like the reserve to include Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP ($2.59), Solana, and Cardano. The entire value of all crypto is worth roughly $3.2 trillion.
The president announced plans to explore a crypto stockpile in a January executive order.
Bitcoin fell about 17.5% in February, which Kendrick said was the cryptocurrency’s worst month since June 2022.
”And then the weekend was the best weekend since January 2021,” he said.
This, Kendrick argued, means traders may rely on Trump to help smooth out worst-case scenarios from analysts’ models.
“Markets can now edge higher,” he said, arguing that Standard Chartered’s previous prediction that Bitcoin will hit $500,000 at the end of Trump’s term is still very much in play.
Trump’s more crypto-friendly government will drive the surge, as will more money flowing into the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, according to those estimates.
Kendrick also cited the potential for a US strategic reserve to spur other governments, whether US states or sovereign nations, to develop their own reserves.
The move could act as “a bridge to plans by the states in the US to progress their own BTC ($90,033.61) reserve plans,” wrote Kendrick. “And perhaps a bridge to a place where other sovereigns join Abu Dhabi in buying Bitcoin as well.”
There are several states pursuing a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, though only two, Utah and Arizona, have made significant progress in establishing one.
The US Crypto Czar, David Sacks, plans to announce details around the reserve during a “crypto summit” planned in Washington on Friday.
Andrew Flanagan is a markets correspondent with DL News. Have a tip? Reach out to [email protected].
