Bitcoin rallies with Trump in lead over Harris

By Tuba Ongun

ANKARA (AA) – The world's largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin gained ground as Republican candidate Donald Trump is leading in the presidential race over his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.

Several wins in battleground US states on Tuesday made Trump’s return to the White House seem very likely.

The price of Bitcoin surged 9.6% to a record high of $75,198 as of GMT0625 Wednesday.

Ethereum, the world's largest altcoin, hit as high as $2,619 on Wednesday, a daily rise of over 8%.

The value of the cryptocurrency market amounted to $2.49 trillion, a 9.94% increase from the previous session. Bitcoin's share, known as dominance, was at 59.7%. Ethereum's was at 12.6%, according to CoinMarketCap.

If Trump wins the presidency, the market expects positive developments for cryptocurrencies, as he pledged that the US will be the “crypto capital” of the planet.

"If crypto is going to define the future, I want it mined, minted and made in the USA. It is not going to be made anywhere else," Trump told July’s Bitcoin Conference in Nashvillle, Tennessee, in the US.

The market size of Bitcoin has recently been at $1.36 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap figures, with a 24-hour trade volume of $42.08 billion.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, over the last 24 hours has also hovered between $2,359.58 and $2,483.05.