Bitcoin set a new peak above $109,000 and the U.S. dollar fell Monday, ahead of Donald Trump’s swearing in as the 47th president.
Stock futures rose, following gains for equity markets in Asia and Europe. As of about 8:25 a.m. ET, contracts tied to major indexes stood about 0.5% higher. U.S. stock and bond markets are shut Monday to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Bitcoin rose as high as $109,225, an intraday record, according to a CoinDesk index, before slipping back.
Trump, who will be sworn into office around noon ET, has positioned himself as a cryptocurrency champion, vowing moves such as establishing a U.S. bitcoin stockpile. Since he was elected, bitcoin has surged more than 50%.
The president-elect and his wife Melania began selling new cryptocurrencies in recent days, meme coins named $TRUMP and $MELANIA. The projects quickly drew disapproval, with some critics saying the tokens create significant conflicts of interest.
Ahead of the inauguration, The Wall Street Journal reported Trump doesn’t plan to levy tariffs on his first day in office—a scenario that many trading partners feared.
The dollar extended losses, with the WSJ Dollar Index sliding 0.8% to a near-two-week low, while currencies of economies that were expected to be hit hard by tariffs strengthened. The British pound, the euro, the Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar each gained more than 1%, while the offshore Chinese yuan also rallied.
Investors are bracing for Trump to issue a blitz of executive orders hours after becoming president, spanning border control, energy and government reform.
“Once those executive orders start coming through and the implications of those are analyzed, that’s where you’ll see sway on markets,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
That will likely keep asset prices volatile, Streeter said. “It could be that some of the worst fears may not materialize; on the other hand, there could be a move that comes out of the blue.”
U.S. stocks made big gains last week, following strong bank earnings and an inflation report that suggested underlying price pressures are easing. But many investors are bracing for potential turbulence, worrying that Trump’s promised policies, including hefty tariffs, could reaccelerate inflation—with far-reaching consequences for markets and Federal Reserve policy.