Last week, the crypto market was blessed by a historical event: Bitcoin and Libra were both mentioned in name by the sitting American President.
Related Reading: Analyst: Bitcoin Could Hit $9,000 Should Bearish Breakdown Occur; Here’s Why
In a three-part thread, Donald Trump lambasted cryptocurrencies as a whole. Per previous reports from NewsBTC, the American leader tried to dismantle the value proposition of not only decentralized cryptocurrencies — such as and namely Bitcoin — but Facebook’s Libra too.
Trump quipped that he doesn’t believe that digital assets are money, adding that they are also known to be very volatile and “based on thin air”. The President went on to argue that cryptocurrencies can and do “facilitate unlawful behavior”, citing its use in the drug trade and “other illegal activity”.
He even took some time to poke the Libra crowd, claiming that the association should abide by “all Banking Regulations”, and that the U.S. Dollar should be the world’s strongest currency.
As a result of this sudden tweetstorm, which many say would cement Bitcoin as “dangerous” in the eyes of millions, some began to run scared. In fact, some have suggested that the recent Bitcoin downturn to $10,500 is a result of Trump’s comments on cryptocurrency.
Trump Didn’t Trigger This Week’s Bitcoin Selloff
According to a report from crypto analytics startup The TIE, this isn’t the case.
The TIE acknowledges that Trump’s tweet regarding Bitcoin did spark increased conversations about this budding market, noting that in the hours after the message spread, tweets involving “BTC” moved from 35,000 to 50,000.
It was also noted that most of the talk involving the President’s thoughts on Bitcoin is “negative-leaning”, hinting that the tweet could have negative effects on the reputation of cryptocurrency in the public’s eyes.
However, the TIE concludes that “while Trump remains a hot topic in BTC tweets, at this point, he does not appear to have had a significant impact on the coin”.
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Three days after Donald Trump's Bitcoin tweet, he continues to dominate conversations on twitter about the cryptocurrency. Trump remains the most used word in Bitcoin tweets. Tweets mentioning Trump and Bitcoin are slightly negative leaning now.https://t.co/unv25rqrcJ pic.twitter.com/Axeps7J3SN
— The TIE (@TheTIEIO) July 14, 2019
Still Long-Term Bullish
While Trump’s thoughts regarding the nascent cryptocurrency space had seemingly no effect on short-term price action, analysts, like Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, suggest that the single Twitter thread poses a massive bullish catalyst for Bitcoin.
In fact, speaking to Yahoo Finance in a recent segment, Fundstrat’s resident cryptocurrency bull wasn’t shy to claim that Trump’s seemingly straight-out-of-left-field tweets about Bitcoin and its ilk could help BTC hit $40,000 in the near future.
Lee’s reasons to be bullish now include Trump’s tweets on top of growing institutional adoption and investment, dovish fiscal policy by central banks, and certain macroeconomic trends that should tactily scream “buy Bitcoin”.
And as covered by this outlet previously, anti-establishment proponent Max Keiser believes that Bitcoin could rally to $100,000 as a result of the tweet.
The RT contributor suggests that by tweeting anti-Bitcoin thoughts, Trump is opening the U.S. up to being proverbially “kicked” by foreign adoption of BTC and other cryptocurrencies.
That’s not all.
While this may seem counter-intuitive, as Trump denouncing cryptocurrencies may actually trigger heavy-handed regulation, Allaire explains that this elevates cryptocurrency to the global stage.
No longer is Bitcoin an asset for the fringe. Now, it exists in the mainstream, as more likely than not, this single Twitter thread, exposed to upwards of 68 million Twitter users, will trigger global political and economic discussion on the matter. And by simple virtue of curiosity and the so-called “Lindy Effect”, this space could grow rapidly.
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