Despite Bitcoin enthusiasts hoping for a boost following Donald Trump’s speech at Bitcoin Nashville last weekend, the week ended on a down note for the top cryptocurrency. Bitcoin fell over 10%, dipping below $60,000 on Saturday amid massive liquidations and rising fears of a U.S. recession.
On Crypto Twitter, debates raged about the significance of Trump’s pro-crypto stance. Gemini co-founders and Trump supporters Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss praised his appearance, with Tyler tweeting, “real engagement starts with showing up.”
Some attendees at the conference, which also featured independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., believed Kennedy was the true pro-Bitcoin candidate. Swan Bitcoin lead analyst Sam Callahan described Kennedy as “the real pro-Bitcoin candidate.”
The week’s timing was critical, as the U.S. government moved $2 billion in Bitcoin seized from the Silk Road on Monday. Some Bitcoin enthusiasts saw this as a challenge to Trump’s view that the government should “never sell” its BTC. However, Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, urged calm, saying, “You guys freak out any time large coins move.”
While U.S. crypto policy sparked debate, Russia grabbed headlines by authorizing Bitcoin for international settlements, a move to circumvent sanctions. This law, effective in September, will not legalize crypto within Russia.
Back in the U.S., Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced a bill on Wednesday to create a strategic U.S. Bitcoin reserve, following her promise in Nashville.
Quarterly earnings reports from several crypto companies arrived this week, including Coinbase, Marathon Digital, Tether, and Jack Dorsey’s Block. MicroStrategy, the top institutional Bitcoin holder, reported a $102 million quarterly loss, but co-founder Michael Saylor highlighted the company’s growing Bitcoin holdings, now worth over $13 billion.
Trump continued to promote Bitcoin, praising crypto in a Fox News interview on Friday. He suggested Bitcoin could help pay off the U.S.’s $35 trillion debt, echoing Sen. Lummis’s strategic reserve idea.
Interestingly, Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign highlighted Trump’s pro-Bitcoin comments without commentary, suggesting his Bitcoin advocacy might be a double-edged sword in the upcoming election.
