An assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday has unsettled the market as it heads into Monday.
As in many periods of political and economic uncertainty, traders are likely to seek more stable investments with less volatility, like gold. At the same time, some investors are turning to Bitcoin.
Bitcoin surged to more than $60,000 following the attack. The attempt led to the death of one spectator and critically injured two others attending the rally. Trump was unharmed after the shooting, and the alleged shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, is deceased, according to a press release from the U.S. Secret Service. Trump is still scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week.
Traders likely flocked to Bitcoin — which trades continuously and was just below $60,000 at the time of publication — for various reasons. Some may anticipate that the assassination attempt will boost Trump’s chances of winning the U.S. presidential election in November. Others might have moved to Bitcoin in response to the political instability.
This election year, Trump has declared himself a “crypto candidate” and has said he would accept donations in Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, Solana, and other cryptocurrencies. President Joe Biden has also indicated he would consider accepting crypto donations. Although Trump’s stance on cryptocurrency marks a significant reversal from a few years ago when he criticized Bitcoin as “a scam against the U.S. dollar,” he has increasingly garnered support from cryptocurrency leaders and community members ahead of November’s vote.
Outside the crypto markets, traders are expected to turn to so-called safe-haven assets like gold and the Swiss franc, which are less reactive to political and economic uncertainty.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, told Yahoo! Finance that “this weekend’s events will likely cause increased volatility on the Monday open in both stock and bond markets. We expect to see a flight to safe havens like the Swiss franc and gold. Bitcoin has reacted positively to the news as a result of kneejerk flight to safety.”
Another asset people may be watching is Trump Media stock. The stock has been incredibly volatile since its debut in late March and was up just over 1% in after-hours trading Sunday at the time of publication.
Vinamrata Chaturvedi contributed to this article.