Iran’s Rial hits all-time low, bitcoin and dollar up as Donald Trump beats Kamala Harris in US Elections 2024

The Iranian Rial fell on Wednesday, November 6, to an all-time low as former President Donald Trump raced for the U.S. presidency again, reported the news agency AP.

The rial traded at 703,000 rials to the dollar.

The last two times the Iranian Rial took a hit was in 2015. At the time of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, it hit 32,000 against $1. On July 30, the day that Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn in and started his term, the rate was 584,000 to $1, as per the report. 

Trump withdrew America from the accord in 2018, which fueled years of tensions between Iran and America, which persists even today. Iran's economy has been struggling over the years under international sanctions over its move to expand its nuclear programme.

Bitcoinm

On the other hand, the cryptocurrency Bitcoin was trading 7 per cent higher at $75,060, crossing its March high, as Trump's return to the White House is seen as a positive move towards softer cryptocurrency regulation,  Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Republican Trump won 15 states while Democrat Kamala Harris captured seven states and Washington, D.C., according to Edison Research, according to news agency reports. 

Markets expected a change in attitude at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to remove a choke point for crypto innovation and speculation, Matthew Dibb, chief investment officer at cryptocurrency asset manager Astronaut Capital, told Reuters.

“(A) Democrat win would have felt like a short-term nail in the coffin,” he said. “Probably not the case long-term but the market is placing high importance on it,” said Dibb.

Currency Markets

The United States dollar also surged 1.28 per cent, as of 3:52 a.m. (EST), according to the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Price Index, as Donald Trump claimed victory and pledged to "heal" the country on Wednesday, AFP reported.

The US dollar surged and bitcoin hit a record high while most equity markets advanced as traders bet on a victory for Trump.

“Markets seem to be piling into the Trump trades completely evident in a higher dollar, higher Bitcoin and pressures on the yen, euro and Mexican peso,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. The market is also now “signaling the a Trump trade may have been priced in and worries about the Congress split could be next,” Bloomberg reported. 

Asian currencies in the emerging markets fell on Wednesday due to projections that Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump will win the U.S. presidential election.

Singapore's dollar and Thailand's baht slid the most among Asian currencies on Wednesday, while the Mexican peso hit a two-year low as the dollar surged.

“The market is making positioning adjustments to prepare for a possible Trump victory,” Ken Cheung Kin Tai, chief Asian FX strategist at Mizuho Bank, told Reuters. “Regional investors are particularly worried about the impact from tariffs because most Asian economies rely on trade growth.”