In a remarkable resurgence, Bitcoin approached the $70,000 threshold for the first time since early June during Asian afternoon hours. This bullish momentum follows Republican candidate Donald Trump’s announcement of plans to designate Bitcoin as a national strategic asset should he assume office in November.

Leading the market gains were Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and BRETT, an emergent memecoin on the Base blockchain. Solana’s SOL surged 6%, outperforming other major tokens such as BNB Chain’s BNB, Ethereum’s ETH, and Ripple’s XRP, which experienced gains between 2-5%.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) experienced a notable rise of over 10%, coinciding with Mt. Gox’s distribution of tokens to its creditors. This surge outpaced the CoinDesk 20—a barometer for the largest and most liquid digital assets—which recorded a 3.6% increase.

Data from CoinDesk Indices highlighted Bitcoin’s (BTC) ascent by 3%, trading above $69,500, while Ether (ETH) climbed 4%, surpassing the $3,300 mark. This upward trajectory in BTC’s price triggered the liquidation of a $13.8 million short position, alongside an $11.4 million ETH short, as reported by CoinGlass.

In a highly anticipated address on Saturday, Trump declared that if victorious in the upcoming elections, he would dismiss current SEC Chair Gary Gensler, establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, and safeguard the U.S. from divesting its Bitcoin holdings. Trump posited that Bitcoin could rival gold and likened its potential to the steel industry of a century ago.

Initially, market analysts speculated that BCH would suffer from the Mt. Gox trade, anticipating that the bankruptcy redemptions would lead to a substantial influx of BCH into the market relative to Bitcoin. However, these concerns have proven unwarranted.

The market’s positive response extended to BRETT, a ‘mascot’ memecoin on the meme-centric Base blockchain. BRETT, a character from Matt Furie’s “Boy’s Club” and a sidekick to Pepe the Frog, saw an 11% uptick in the past 24 hours. Similarly, POPCAT, another cat-themed memecoin, rose by 7%.

Conversely, Trump-themed tokens have not shared in this optimism. Despite Trump’s address at the BTC 2024 conference in Nashville, tokens like MAGA (TRUMP) have declined, with MAGA down 6% on the day and 18% over the past week, according to CoinGecko data. The TREMP token remained relatively stable, down 0.3% in the last 24 hours and nearly 10% over the past week.