Wall Street is glued to Donald J. Trump’s every move as he steps back into the White House, ready to disrupt, change, and possibly supercharge the economy. His presidency is already shaking the ground beneath corporate boardrooms, trading floors, and blockchain offices across America.
Trump’s second term has stocks betting on massive changes in market dynamics. Meanwhile, crypto players, sidelined and battered during the Biden years, see a golden window to push crypto even more into the mainstream.
Everyone’s talking, speculating, and strategizing because 2025 is widely expected to make history. Many in the crypto community are calling it the “Golden Era.”
Wall Street bets on Trump-fueled growth
Wall Street’s biggest players are leaning into the idea of Trump’s pro-business agenda. JPMorgan Chase predicts a resurgence of what they call “U.S. exceptionalism,” driven by Trump’s America-first policies.
Tariffs directed at foreign competitors are expected to tilt the playing field in favor of U.S. companies. Banks like JPMorgan believe this could cement America’s dominance in global markets.
Inflation, though they warned, remains a wildcard. Trump’s aggressive trade policies and hardline stance on immigration are seen as factors that could keep inflation above the Federal Reserve’s targets.
Apollo Global Management thinks progress toward controlling inflation will “take longer than expected,” and interest rate cuts, while anticipated, might come slower than markets hope.
The stock market isn’t likely to replicate last year’s 20% returns, but they’re saying AI could keep things going for quite a long time.
BNY Mellon Wealth Management is also bullish on AI’s transformative potential, calling it “the technology that will outshine every innovation that came before.” AI investments are expected to drive gains, even as other sectors face slower growth.
Diversification is the game plan for 2025. Not everyone’s placing their chips on stocks though. Bonds are making a quiet comeback as income-generating assets.
Wall Street is looking beyond stocks, exploring hedge funds, private markets, and alternative assets like crypto to get through what promises to be a volatile year.
Crypto counts on Trump for a comeback
Crypto executives see Trump as their industry’s long-awaited savior. After four years of hostile regulation under Biden, these guys are betting that Trump will bring the kind of change that puts blockchain at the center of America’s financial future.
His campaign promises included building a strategic Bitcoin reserve and forming a crypto advisory council, which he has actually already done. Trump’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission was Paul Atkins, one of Bitcoin’s earliest investors. He also sits on advisory boards for crypto organizations like Securitize and The Digital Chamber.
Trump’s Treasury Secretary nominee, Scott Bessent, is a proud crypto lover who famously said, “Crypto isn’t just about money. It’s about freedom.”
Commerce Secretary pick Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, brings deep connections to stablecoin giant Tether. And then there’s Elon Musk, now leading a newly created Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E), a nod to an industry that considers him a hero.
The excitement doesn’t stop there. Trump’s administration is expected to repeal SAB 121, a controversial accounting rule that forces institutions holding digital tokens to treat them as liabilities. This rule has kept big banks and fund managers out of the crypto market.
If Trump scraps it, experts believe it could open the floodgates for Wall Street’s entry into digital assets. Access to banking services is another critical issue. Under Biden, as we reported, crypto companies accused regulators of creating “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” effectively blocking them from accessing top-tier financial services.
Trump’s administration has promised to reverse this. Coinbase’s legal officer, Paul Grewal, said in an interview with Yahoo Finance, “The incoming administration has the opportunity to reverse so many poor crypto policy decisions, chief among them politically motivated regulatory decisions like Operation Chokepoint 2.0.”
Lobbyists paved the way for Trump’s crypto pivot
The crypto industry quite literally fought for Trump’s election victory. The pro-crypto Super PAC Fairshake poured $135 million into the election cycle, securing victories for 294 pro-crypto politicians in Congress. By comparison, only 134 anti-crypto lawmakers won seats.
Fairshake’s efforts were bankrolled by some of the biggest names in the industry. Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen Horowitz were among the top contributors. Ripple alone put $25 million into the PAC. The company also donated $5 million to Trump’s inauguration. Stuart Alderoty, general counsel at Ripple, called the election results “a decisive victory for the crypto community.”
These lobbying efforts were also about building a Congress that would back crypto-friendly policies. Fairshake strategically targeted anti-crypto candidates, focusing on issues like border security to win over skeptical voters. With the 2026 midterms on the horizon, the PAC has already raised $78 million to continue its work.
Last year, the SEC approved spot bitcoin ETFs, a decision that finally brought regulated crypto investment products to the U.S. market. BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF, the largest of its kind, now manages nearly $60 billion in assets.
Pension funds in states like Wisconsin and Michigan have started holding Bitcoin through these funds, signaling growing institutional acceptance.
Bitcoin itself has smashed through the $100,000 mark, triggering a wave of FOMO (fear of missing out). Investors who previously avoided the market are now rushing back in.
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