Bitcoin rebounds after Trump says he’s become ‘a big crypto guy’

Bitcoin turned positive Monday after President Donald Trump voiced his support for cryptocurrency.

Earlier in the session, bitcoin dove toward $60,000 after Strategy, a longtime corporate buyer of the token, sold some of its holdings for the second time this year, dealing a blow to the asset once dubbed “digital gold.” The flagship cryptocurrency was last trading at $63,853.85, up 1.8% on the day. Earlier, it was down more than 2%.

“Well … I’ve become a big crypto guy,” Trump said in a news conference on Monday, responding to a question about whether bitcoin might be added to recently launched Trump Accounts.

The tax-advantaged 503A accounts went live over the holiday weekend, and they are aimed at allowing children to build long-term savings over their lifetimes. The accounts are expected to drive inflows into U.S. equities, as people can select to invest in a range of broad-market exchange traded funds.

Trump’s comments were a welcome boost for crypto investors on Monday. A stunning strategy shift by the bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor has weighed on market sentiment in recent weeks, according to Barclays. 

Strategy disclosed Monday in a regulatory filing that it made multiple sales of bitcoin worth a combined $216 million, marking a further reversal of the Saylor-led company’s earlier promises to never sell its bitcoin.

“Strategy’s entire investment thesis was built on a public promise never to sell,” Barclays analyst Ajay Rajadhyaksha said Monday in a note to clients. “When they sold — even a minuscule amount — and then announced a new policy framework allowing further sales for ‘capital allocation purposes,’ it was a significant hit to sentiment.”

Strategy sold roughly $80.8 million worth of bitcoin at an average price of $59,256 per token between June 29 and 30, according to its regulatory filing. Then, an additional $135.5 million of bitcoin was sold in a separate series of transactions from July 1 to 5. 

That brings its holdings to 843,775 bitcoin worth around $52.1 billion as of writing time. The company’s average cost-per-token now sits at $75,476. 

Strategy first announced its shift to a corporate policy that would enable it to sell some of its bitcoin in May. It reported the sale of more than $2 million in bitcoin on June 1, marking its first sale since 2022.

Since then, bitcoin has largely traded in the range of $60,000 to $70,000. On June 24, the asset briefly dipped to roughly $59,000, or its lowest level since Oct. 10, 2024.

Shares of Strategy rose 1% on Monday, while its preferred stock, STRC, gained almost 3%. Even with the bump, the preferred stock is trading below its $100 par level.

Cantor analyst Ramsey El-Assal sees Strategy’s sale of bitcoin as effort to shore up its perferred stock, which he called the company’s “center of gravity,” not a commentary on the cryptocurrency.

“We fully expect the company to do whatever it takes to lift STRC to par, and we believe the Street should expect frequent, periodic actions,” El-Assal said in a note to clients.

The company has to balance three constituencies, preferred stockholders, common stockholders and bitcoin investors, according to El-Assal. However, protecting one of these three groups may hurt the other, he said.

“The company rightly understands something that bears miss: where STRC goes, MSTR common shares follow,” the analyst said.