Sluggish crypto prices were on the receiving end of two positive catalysts on Friday, first as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed that a monetary easing cycle will begin next month, and then as crypto-friendly RFK Jr. threw his support behind the (also crypto-friendly) GOP standard-bearer Donald Trump in the presidential campaign.

Already higher by about 3% on the Fed news, bitcoin (BTC) rose further following the Kennedy announcement, trading at $63,800 at press time, or up 5.6% over the past 24 hours. The broader CoinDesk 20 Index was up 4.7% over the same time frame, with ether (ETH), tezos (XTX) and solana (SOL) among the tokens posting 5% or more gains.

Even with Kennedy exiting and endorsing Trump, the presidential race still appears to be about a 50/50 contest, but the conventional thinking at the moment suggests the removal of Kennedy from the ballot in the so-called "battleground" states will mostly benefit the GOP candidate.

Both Trump and Kennedy have promised a far friendlier attitude towards bitcoin and crypto than has been exhibited by the Biden administration, with Trump suggesting the U.S. create a bitcoin strategic reserve and the promising the immediate firing of SEC chief Gary Gensler. The Harris campaign has apparently taken notice. A senior Harris adviser earlier this week said a Harris administration would be supportive of the growth of the crypto industry.

Bitcoin Market Wrap

Stephen Alpher

Stephen is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He previously served as managing editor at Seeking Alpha. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Stephen went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, majoring in finance. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.