Cryptocurrencies have their "Trump put"

CRYPTOCURRENCIES HAVE THEIR "TRUMP PUT" U.S. President Trump again floating the idea of a strategic cryptocurrency reserve has pushed the price of bitcoin higher in the last 24 hours, after the cryptocurrency suffered its worst month since 2022.Bitcoin was last at $92,392, up about 8.5% from the level it was trading at before Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday, saying that the stockpile of currencies would include ether (ETH=), XRP (XRP=), solana (SOL=CCCL) and cardano (ADA=CCCL), along with bitcoin.Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick calls the timing of the announcement "interesting", given February was the worst month for bitcoin since June 2022, while the weekend was the best weekend since January 2021. "That combination looks to me like the first solid data point of a Trump put for crypto," Kendrick says, who has a $500,000 price target for bitcoin. "We have moved from selling rallies to buying dips," Kendrick adds. According to Citi, the inclusion of some of the smaller tokens increases the likelihood of the U.S. government buying cryptocurrencies, rather than filling the reserve with seized tokens. "Given that the vast majority of the current government holdings from seizures are in Bitcoin, it is now more likely that such assets would be funded by open-market purchases," Citi says.The U.S. bank also believes a strategic reserve could add to the perceived legitimacy of the asset class. "However, more clarity on the selection criteria for the tokens to be included would provide more support, in our view," they write. (Samuel Indyk)***** MONDAY'S OTHER LIVE MARKETS POSTS: DEFENCE NAMES SURGE, BROADER MARKET MIXED CLICK HERE EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: FUTURES HIGHER, MARKETS SET FOR DEFENCE BOOST CLICK HERETRUMP FLAGS CRYPTO RESERVE, MUM ON FUNDING CLICK HERE