Bitcoin is Trump’s next opportunity to beat Biden

Biden’s victory in 2020 aligned with a big rally for bitcoin — can Trump beat the Biden bump?

article-image

Ivan Popovych/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share


This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Biden dropped out of the presidential race too soon for Trump to get proper revenge for 2016, and he’ll have to settle for taking out his VP instead.

Luckily, there’s still time to beat Biden in perhaps the only popular vote that really counts: bitcoin.

Bitcoin already set record highs alongside the stock market around Trump’s win this week — the S&P 500 is up 4% in the past month to bitcoin’s 18%.

That’s much more than what happened after Trump’s win in 2016, which was good for a brief 5% jump. 

Obama’s win in 2012 meanwhile coincided with bitcoin’s price dropping by one-fifth in the leadup to Election Day, before recovering over following weeks.

But Biden’s victory in 2020 aligned with a far bigger rally. Bitcoin had risen 30% in the month heading into the vote and continued on for another 50% in the 30 days after. 

Each line is bitcoin’s price performance around Election Day, with the week either side shown by the shaded area

This was the start of bitcoin’s monstrous pandemic run from $10,000 to $60,000, as Trump was handing over the White House, which spanned September 2020 to March 2021.

Of course, bitcoin today is a much bigger beast. BTC’s market cap was under $300 billion at the time — now it’s almost $1.5 trillion. It takes much more to move the needle so far.

If it happened, it would be big. Bitcoin rallied up to 87% in the 60 days surrounding Biden’s election win. 

BTC has so far gone about 20% for Trump, and another 70% would put bitcoin at almost $130,000 before year’s end.

We’re gonna need bigger bulls.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (8).png

Research

Kinetiq has established itself as Hyperliquid's dominant liquid staking protocol, holding 82.5% of LST market share with $610M in TVL. The protocol is now expanding beyond its kHYPE staking core into higher take-rate verticals: iHYPE for institutional custody rails, Launch for HIP-3 capital formation, and Markets for builder-deployed perpetuals. We view Markets, launching Jan. 12, as the highest-potential product line given its mechanically scalable, activity-linked unit economics. Near-term revenue remains anchored by kHYPE's KIP-2 fee schedule (~$1.6M annualized), while Markets provides embedded optionality if HIP-3 economics normalize post-Growth Mode. KNTQ's setup is relatively clean: zero insider unlocks until November 2026, 6.2% buyback yield from staking revenue, and cleared airdrop overhang. Risks center on unproven Markets execution, declining kHYPE TVL despite ongoing incentives, and competition from Hyperliquid's native initiatives.

article-image

BTC finished the week up 1.6%, while L2s, RWAs and the treasury trade continued to grind lower

article-image

DTCC moves DTC-custodied Treasuries onchain via Canton, while Lighter’s LIT launches trading at a fees multiple in Hyperliquid territory

article-image

In the 90s, rapt audiences worldwide watched a coffee pot — will that fascination ever turn to crypto?

article-image

Some systems improve by failing — and crypto has no choice

article-image

Yield Basis introduces an IL-free AMM design that already dominates BTC DEX liquidity

article-image

Maybe tokenholders don’t need the rights that corporate shareholders have come to expect

Newsletter

The Breakdown

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Blockworks Research

Unlock crypto's most powerful research platform.

Our research packs a punch and gives you actionable takeaways for each topic.

SubscribeGet in touch

Blockworks Inc.

133 W 19th St., New York, NY 10011

Blockworks Network

NewsPodcastsNewslettersEventsRoundtablesAnalytics