The dollar surged and bitcoin hit a record high Wednesday before Donald Trump claimed victory in the US election, with traders ramping up bets on fresh tax cuts, tariffs, and rising inflation.
While polls had shown the race on a knife edge, the Republican fared far better than his Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris as results rolled in.
Both candidates picked up expected wins in safe states, but indications that the business tycoon was on course for a second term boosted the so-called Trump Trade.
While victory is not yet official, Trump claimed it in a speech in Florida, saying: “We are going to help our country heal… We have a country that needs help and it needs help very badly.”
News that the former president’s party had won control of the Senate boosted the prospect of sweeping tax cuts, more tariffs, and deregulation — seen as a boost for the greenback.
The dollar jumped 1.5 percent to 154.38 yen, its highest since July, while it was also up more than one percent against the euro and more than three percent against the Mexican peso.
Bitcoin sprung $6,000 higher to a record $75,371.69, topping its previous peak of $73,797.98 in March.
Trump has pledged to make the United States the “bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world” and to put tech billionaire Elon Musk in charge of a wide-ranging audit of governmental waste.
“The price of bitcoin has closely followed Trump’s position in the polls and on betting markets,” Russ Mould, an analyst at AJ Bell, said ahead of Tuesday’s US election.
Investors are “potentially taking the view that a Republican victory would lead to a surge in demand for the digital currency”, he added.
