• Bitcoin Cash is up double digits as the business week in Asia opens, despite expectations from analysts it would be the loser in the Mt. Gox trade.

• The token outperformed the broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index, which is up 3.6%.

Bitcoin neared the $70,000 mark for the first time since early June in Asian afternoon hours, days after Republican candidate Donald Trump revealed plans to make the asset a national strategic asset if brought to power in November.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and BRETT, a relatively new memecoin on the Base blockchain led gains in the crypto market on Monday. Meanwhile, Solana's SOL jumped 6%, leading gains among major tokens, as BNB Chain's BNB, ether (ETH) and XRP rose between 2-5%.

BCH is up over 10% as Mt. Gox finishes distributing tokens to its creditors, beating the CoinDesk 20, a measure of the largest and most liquid digital assets, which is up 3.6%.

CoinDesk Indices data shows that bitcoin (BTC) is up 3%, trading above $69,500, while Ether (ETH) is up 4%, trading above $3300.

This steady rise in price for BTC caused the liquidation of a $13.8 million short bet, while $11.4 million ETH short were wiped out, according to CoinGlass data.

In a highly anticipated speech on Saturday, Trump said that if elected in November, he would fire current SEC Chair Gensler, build a strategic bitcoin reserve, and prevent the U.S. from selling its bitcoin holdings. He believes that the asset could compete with gold one day and be "the steel industry of 100 years ago."