President Donald Trump’s latest message to the US public has had a potentially steadying effect on the economy. Go figure.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which earlier today was up by around 800 points, has closed the day up close to 2,000 points—an increase of nearly 10 percent.
Likewise, Bitcoin, which at one point in the early morning hours was trading for as little as $4,000, is now trading for $5,400. That’s an increase of more than 30 percent, through the crypto asset is still down 7 percent over the last 24 hours.
At 3pm EST, Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic that has caused close to 40 deaths within the United States. "I am officially declaring a national emergency. Two very big words," he told reporters in the Rose Garden. The president also opened the door to as much as $50 billion in potential aid to US citizens who have been affected by the illness.
The stock market reacted positively to the news. And, as has been the case all week, the crypto market followed the traditional market’s lead. Total market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies has recovered $5 billion since this morning. It now stands at just over $155 billion.
Ethereum is currently trading for around $130 per coin, up from below $100 during this morning’s crash. And XRP, which was just surpassed in market cap by the stablecoin Tether, is currently priced at $0.15, up from $.11 per coin.