Bitcoin is soaring as a Trump presidency looks more likely

Something to celebrate.
Something to celebrate.
Image: Reuters/Brendan McDermid
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While Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 750 points, bitcoin is surging. The cryptocurrency climbed above $732 after midnight (Oct. 9) on the East Coast, up 3.4% from two hours prior. A month ago, bitcoin traded at $614.62.

Economic instability, like Brexit earlier this year, has been shown to trigger such jumps, as investors gobble up the nationless online currency.

Jacob Eliosoff, a cryptocurrency hedge fund manager, told Coindesk that a Trump presidency would be good for Bitcoin—just like a nuclear war would.

“It would be an epic disaster in a bunch of respects—economic, geopolitical, democratic—and in the fear and chaos bitcoin would be a defensive asset people could turn to,” he said.

It might not be foolish to heed the market. You’d be betting alongside Shannon Shorr, a professional poker player from Alabama.