Bitcoin, altcoins rise ahead of Trump crypto summit

Bitcoin and most altcoins turned green on Saturday as investors focused on the inaugural crypto summit by President Donald Trump. 

Bitcoin (BTC) rose to $85,000, 8.5% above its lowest level this week, while the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies rose to $2.8 trillion.

At press time, Bitcoin was up 2.1% and trading at about $84,600 — up 2.1%

Some of the top-performing cryptocurrencies were Hedera Hashgraph, Celestia, Official Trump, Stellar Lumens, and Sonic, which rose by over 15%.

Trump will host the first-ever summit focused on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies next Friday. It will likely feature officials from the Treasury Department and a team from the crypto and AI office that David Sacks and Bo Hines lead. 

Who will attend?

Top leaders in the crypto industry, including the heads of exchanges like Coinbase, Gemini, and Kraken will likely attend. Most of these leaders, including Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, were some of the top Trump backers during the campaign. 

The other potential attendees are leaders of popular made-in-the-USA cryptocurrencies like Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson, Stellar’s Jed McCaleb, Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse, and Ondo Finance’s Nathan Allman.

Elon Musk, who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, will likely attend. He is a big crypto backer, with Tesla holding over 11,500 Bitcoins worth over $975 million. Also, Musk is evaluating how the US government may leverage blockchain technology to cut costs.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, ever since Gary Gensler resigned as chair, has ended some litigations including those involving companies like Uniswap, Coinbase, and Gemini.

As Trump considers a U.S. Bitcoin reserve, there is a likelihood that Bitcoin and other altcoins will rally ahead of this summit. 

While Trump has been pro-crypto, some of his policies have contributed to the recent weakness. The most notable one is tariffs on American imports, which critics say will lead to higher inflation and market volatility.