As President-elect Donald Trump threatened BRICS countries against a reserve currency, economist Jeremy Siegel says “Bitcoin is far more of a threat to replace the dollar in world reserves than anything created by the emerging market economies.”
What Happened: BRICS, an intergovernmental organization, comprises nine countries including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Siegel is a senior economist at WisdomTree and emeritus professor of finance at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
He said, “I found it curious that Trump threatened 100% tariffs for the BRICS nations wanting to implement a new reserve currency, while also championing the rise of Bitcoin’s price surpassing $100,000 and attributing it to his pro-crypto world view.”
“Bitcoin is viewed by many as an alternative global currency similar to what the BRICS are looking to achieve,” Siegel added.
Trump, in an X post dated Dec. 1 threatened BRICS countries that he would impose “…100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy.”
Why It Matters: Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has been on an upward trajectory after Trump’s victory in the 2024 election. During the publication of this article, bitcoin was priced at $96,889.07 per coin.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency bulls have increased in number and many companies like Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy Inc (NASDAQ:MSTR) and MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) are building bitcoin reserves.
Ken Griffin, the founder of Citadel Securities and its hedge fund spoke about the ‘fear of missing out’ on the crypto rally, during the New York Times DealBook conference.
“Of course, I wish I bought something that trades at 100-times the price it traded at a few years ago,” Griffin said. “We all have FOMO. It’s just universal, it’s part of human psychology,” he added.
Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock.com
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