Investing.com — Bitcoin price rose on Wednesday, extending a recent rally as the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency bringing with it a friendlier regulatory environment largely offset concerns about selling pressure from Mt Gox.
Speculation about exchange-traded funds tracking Ether also helped sentiment towards cryptocurrencies, as recent media reports said the Securities and Exchange Commission was close to approving applications from US fund operators.
rose 2% over the past 24 hours to $65,803.3 as of 01:41 ET (05:41 GMT).
Trump speculation helps Bitcoin overcome Mt Gox jitters
Bitcoin’s rally largely came about due to growing speculation about the possibility of Trump winning a second term. The former US president has shown a mostly pro-cryptocurrency stance in his recent election campaigns and is also scheduled to speak at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville at the end of July.
Trump was seen gaining a major boost in popularity after a failed assassination attempt on the former president over the weekend.
Trump said Tuesday he will also launch a fourth collection of non-fungible tokens. His campaign is also accepting cryptocurrency donations.
Mt Gox moves $2.8 billion in Bitcoin
Defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt Gox was seen moving around $2.8 billion worth of Bitcoin this week, moving it to exchanges likely as part of its planned distributions.
The exchange had previously said it would begin returning tokens stolen during a 2014 hack to creditors starting in July.
Fears of such a scenario, involving a sharp increase in the active supply of Bitcoin tokens, had battered the cryptocurrency, taking it to more than four-month lows in early July.
But the token recovered all those losses in the last four days.
Cryptocurrency prices today: Altcoins rise, Ether is supported by bets on ETFs
Among cryptocurrency prices in general, major altcoins also advanced on the prospect of friendlier regulations in the US.
rose 3.6% to $3,503.20 as Reuters reported the SEC could approve some spot ETFs as early as next week.
The company's shares rose more than 10% amid rumors that it was close to settling a long-running case with the SEC. The regulator had accused the firm of selling unregistered securities.
and rose by 1.9% and 4.3%, respectively.
Among meme tokens, each rose by approximately 2.6%.
