Trump 2.0: Will Past Be Prologue for Financial Services?

This introduction is not a political endorsement.

In the days leading up to the U.S. Presidential election, we looked at how the policies of the two candidates might impact fintech and financial services companies. With the results in, now's the time to swap our betting cards for scorecards as we look to see how the incoming President's policies and preferences are to be implemented.

And by who. At this point, President-elect Trump has already made a number of major personnel moves - from his choice of campaign manager Susie Wiles as the country's first female White House chief of staff to his naming of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head up his Department of Government Efficiency (yes, "DOGE").

Meanwhile, on the "stays the same" side of the ledger, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell has said that he plans on remaining for the rest of his term -- which ends on May 15, 2026 -- regardless of the President-elect's preferences.

So what are we watching for? Here are three areas that we'll be keeping our eyes on.

1. Cryptocurrencies: The cool kids in cryptoland are partying like its 2021. Or 2018. Pick your peak, this year's post-election performance by bitcoin has been impressive. BTC rallied to its highest level this week, nearing the $90,000 mark. President-elect Trump's reversal from crypto critic to "The Crypto President" has observers convinced that the murky regulatory environment for crypto is about to get a lot clearer.
2. Re-deregulation: With the Republicans gaining control of the Senate, Senator John Thune of South Dakota has been elected Senate Majority Leader. There has already been talk of a more permissive environment for M&A, and there are a number of individual policy preferences that have been on the Republican agenda for years. But for now we're watching to see what happens with SEC chairman Gary Gensler, who the President-elect has pledged to "fire on Day One."
3. Inflation Nation: It's going to take some time for this to play out, even if it does. But between the anticipated GOP tax cut sometime next year and the pledge to use tariffs more aggressively, more than a handful of economists have suggested that the President-elect's policies could actually reignite inflationary trends. If inflation does return, it will be interesting to see what tools the President-elect decides to use to fight it.

I'm David Penn bringing you this week's edition of The Finovate Weekly!

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