Today is a strange day for the US — even though you might not have seen it coming, Donald Trump is now president-elect. And that’s doing some interesting things to the cryptocurrency markets.
According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin prices have been steadily rising as Trump’s victory was looking more and more real throughout election night. At its highest point the popular cryptocurrency reached $738, up from a low of $703 around the time polls in the US were closing down. As America wakes up again right now, the price seems to have slightly dropped to $725.
That’s nowhere near as bad as the stocks markets, which plunged after his victory was imminent. This is what that looks like in numbers:
Futures
S&P: -5%
FTSE: -5%
DAX: -5%
Nikkei: -5%
Crude: -3%
Peso/USD: -12%
Dollar Index: -2%
Gold: +4%
Bitcoin: +3%
Sleep tight…— Charlie Bilello (@charliebilello) November 9, 2016
People are becoming increasingly unsure about the future of their country, and that’s why they’re buying gold and bitcoin, bringing up the price. Both are seen as investments that would retain its value in a doomsday scenario where regular fiat currencies would quickly crash.
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Trump taking control of the White House might not be a literal doomsday, but it’s apparently enough to shake up traders’ behavior.
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