Raphael Stevens

Full Coverage

Richard Teng, Binance’s CEO, on Tuesday said that he sees “much clearer regulation” in the U.S. this year under the new Trump administration, adding that this will be supportive for crypto markets.
“If you look at past cycles, this year will be a year that we see a new all-time high for the crypto industry,” Teng told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Last year, bitcoin passed the $100,000 price milestone for the first time, as traders grew optimistic about the crypto industry’s prospects under a Trump administration.

The crypto market will see a new all-time high in 2025 on the back of positive regulatory movements in the U.S. under newly inaugurated President Donald Trump, the CEO of Binance told CNBC Tuesday.
Richard Teng, who took the reins from former Binance boss Changpeng Zhao last year, told CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal that he sees “much clearer regulation” happening in the U.S. this year under the new Trump administration, adding this will be supportive for crypto markets.

“If you look at past cycles, this year will be a year that we see a new all-time high for the crypto industry,” Teng said in a fireside chat at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Bitcoin passed the $100,000 price milestone for the first time last year, as traders grew optimistic about the crypto industry’s prospects under a Trump administration. As of Tuesday, the token was trading near $104,000, according to CoinGecko, down 3% in the last 24 hours amid a broad slump in crypto markets.

“The narrative [around crypto] has shifted quite drastically” since last year, Teng added, noting he’s been hearing positive crypto sentiments expressed by political and corporate leaders since arriving in Davos.
In terms of new legislation, Teng said that he expects to see progress in the United States on several fronts, including token issuance, trading and asset management.
Trump isn’t the only key U.S. political figure who is “pro-crypto,” Teng said, adding: “The House of Representatives and the Senate now [are] pro-crypto, compared to the past.”

“So, legislation will be passed, you have pro-crypto regulators being appointed to key commissioner roles in the SEC and CFTC,” Binance’s CEO said.
Trump picked respected Washington lawyer Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has previously been aggressive in its enforcement approach to the crypto industry
Teng is also expecting Trump to give the crypto sector “certainty” and “recognition,” as well as establish a U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve — something the now-president suggested he’d do during his campaign.

Clarification: The text and headline of this story have been clarified to reflect that Binance CEO Richard Teng said the crypto market will hit a new all-time high in 2025. More

Full Coverage

Ray Dalio, Founder & CIO Mentor Bridgewater Associates, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 16th, 2024.
Adam Galici | CNBC

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio thinks reducing the U.S. budget deficit could stabilize the bond market and lower interest rates.
The founder of Bridgewater, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, said the current projected deficit is 7.5% of U.S. gross domestic product. If that ratio goes down to 3%, the supply-demand imbalance in the bond market would be lessened significantly, Dalio said.

“It’s almost a black and white situation,” Dalio said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “All those bonds have to be sold … there’s a tremendous supply … It’s happened many times before, so we have to stabilize that, and we can do it.”
Rising financing costs along with continued spending growth and declining tax receipts have combined to send deficits spiraling and have pushed the national debt past the $36 trillion mark. In 2024, the government spent more on interest payments than any other outlay other than Social Security, defense and health care.
The widely-followed investor said reducing the deficit can be achieved through higher taxes, lower spending or a combination of the two, so long as politicians work together to solve the problem.
“That’s what I call the 3% solution,” Dalio said. “We have so much debt that the interest costs on the debt is more important than spending and taxes …. our problem isn’t the deficit. Our problem is the politics, the fragmented politics.” More

“Official Trump,” a token representing the new U.S. leader, plunged as much as 26% in 24 hours.
A meme token released Sunday by first lady Melania Trump also crashed.
Trump’s inauguration Monday lacked any concrete policy announcements regarding crypto.

A cartoon image of US President-elect Donald Trump with cryptocurrency tokens, depicted in front of the White House to mark his inauguration, displayed at a Coinhero store in Hong Kong, China, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. 
Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies sank on Tuesday, as bullish investor sentiment surrounding cryptocurrencies cooled after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“Official Trump,” a token launched last week that represents the new U.S. leader, plunged as much as 26% in 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. Meanwhile, a meme token released Sunday by first lady Melania Trump, roughly halved in price in a day.

Bitcoin dipped as much as 5% Tuesday morning before paring losses slightly. The world’s largest digital coin was last down 2%, trading at $104,375. XRP, a smaller token, fell 4%. Ether was flat.
Crypto investors have hailed Trump’s arrival to the White House as a positive moment for the industry. The president has promised to introduce policies supportive of cryptocurrencies, including an accommodating regulatory framework and a federal bitcoin hoard.

While Trump is viewed as set to benefit crypto, his inauguration Monday lacked any concrete policy announcements regarding the sector. That appeared to be the primary factor taking the wind out of the crypto market’s sails on Tuesday.
Kenneth Lamont, a principal at Morningstar, warned investors not to jump into crypto trading without being properly informed about the risks involved.
“If Donald Trump delivers on his election promises, we could see cryptocurrency markets continue to surge. However, investors would do well to resist the siren call of fear of missing out, and sit on their hands,” Lamont said in emailed comments Tuesday.

Cryptocurrencies are known to be volatile. Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital coin, has previously risen or fallen by thousands of dollars in a single day. Alternative coins, or “altcoins,” like ether and XRP, have proven even more more prone to fluctuations.
“Fear of missing out is not an investment strategy. For many investors, the lure of easy wealth is strong,” Lamont said, adding that retail investors “tend to be poor at market timing, buying and selling at the worst moments.” More

Full Coverage

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang warned there are “no winners” in a trade war.
“Protectionism leads no where. [A trade war has no winners,” Ding said Tuesday, according to an official English translation.
Returning U.S. President Donald Trump indicated tariffs could be a way to pressure China into forcing Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok, whose future availability in the U.S. is now in question.

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang speaks during COP29 on Nov. 12, 2024.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

BEIJING — Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang warned there are “no winners” in a trade war, as the world’s second-largest economy faces the possibility of tariffs under the freshly-inaugurated administration of Donald Trump.
“Protectionism leads no where. [A] trade war has no winners,” Ding said Tuesday, according to an official English translation. He was speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The vice premier began his address largely by referencing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech at Davos in 2017, which took place just days before Trump headed to the White House to begin his first term.
At the time, Xi had said that “pursuing protectionism is just like locking one’s self in a dark room. Wind and rain might be kept outside but so are light and air.”
After his second inauguration on Monday, Trump said the U.S. could levy tariffs on Mexico and Canada as soon as February. As for China, the returning U.S. president indicated tariffs could be a way to pressure the country into forcing Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok, whose future availability in the U.S. is now in question.
“If we wanted to make a deal with TikTok, and it was a good deal, and China wouldn’t approve it, then I think ultimately they’d approve it, because we’d put tariffs on China,” Trump said. “I’m not saying I would, but you certainly could do that.”
Trump said he and Xi discussed TikTok and trade during a call on Friday. The Chinese readout of the exchange did not mention the social media app. Neither leader attended Davos this year.

Ding, who said he was attending Davos for the second time, is one of China’s four vice premiers. China economy has struggled with lackluster consumption and a real estate slump. Despite this, the country’s GDP officially grew by 5% last year after a flurry of stimulus announcements starting in late September.
In his speech on Tuesday, Ding attributed China’s economic challenges to the external environment and to “temporary pains brought [about] by our own economic restructuring.” He referenced that the country is trying to move away from real estate as a pillar of growth and toward new drivers such as high-end technology.
China’s technological achievements are the result of “open cooperation,” Ding added in a subsequent discussion with World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab. The Chinese official emphasized that Beijing is developing artificial intelligence for the “intelligent transformation” of its economy, and has institutions capable of controlling the emerging technology.
Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, the U.S. had said it was in competition with China and imposed sweeping restrictions that prevent Chinese companies from buying high-end semiconductors used for training artificial intelligence systems.”
“On the global governance of AI, this is a tough issue,” Ding said. “If we allow this reckless competition among countries to continue then we will see a grey rhino, what to do about it?”
He called for global coordination on AI governance through the United Nations, similar to nuclear or biological risks.
Ding broadly warned of “unimaginable consequences” if the world were to split into different systems, including a worst-case-scenario of a “relapse into confrontation.”
“That would be a situation [in which] no country can stay unafflicted,” Ding said.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report. More

Donald Trump started his new presidential term with an unexpected show of restraint. Just a couple of months ago, Mr Trump had warned that he would announce hefty new levies on his first day back in the White House. Instead, he opted for a softer opening. He was set to issue a presidential memorandum, calling for an “America first” trade policy and a review of commercial relationships with China, Canada and Mexico. His measured start prompted relief in government offices and on trading floors around the world. Foreign currencies and stocks rallied. More

SO BEGINS Donald Trump’s tariff roller-coaster, sure to be a stomach-churning ride for the global economy. He started his first day in office with an unexpected show of restraint: rather than slapping hefty new tariffs on other countries, he instead issued a presidential memorandum calling for a review of unfair trade practices. It seemed to be a measured start for Mr Trump—at least on the protectionist front, if not his wider programme—prompting relief in government offices and on trading floors around the world. Foreign currencies and stocks rallied. More

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller believes Donald Trump’s re-election renewed a jolt of speculative enthusiasm in the markets and surging optimism within businesses.
“I’ve been doing this for 49 years, and we’re probably going from the most anti-business administration to the opposite,” Druckenmiller said on CNBC Monday. “We do a lot of talking to CEOs and companies on the ground. And I’d say CEOs are somewhere between relieved and giddy. So we’re a believer in animal spirits.”

While the notable investor, who now runs Duquesne Family Office, is bullish on the economy in the near-term, he remains somewhat cautious on the stock market because of elevated bond yields. He revealed that he is holding onto his short against Treasurys, effectively betting that bond prices will fall and yields will rise.
“In terms of the markets, I would say it’s complicated,” Druckenmiller said. “You’re going to have this push of a strong economy versus bond yields rising in response to that strong economy, and that kind of makes me not have a strong opinion one way or the other.”
The S&P 500 surged nearly 6% in November on Trump’s victory, bringing the benchmark’s 2024 gains to 23.3%. Trump’s promised tax cuts and deregulation have boosted risk assets dramatically, especially bank and energy stocks, as well as bitcoin, which just hit another record high Monday.
Druckenmiller, 71, said he would focus on individual stocks, not worrying about the broader market. The investor noted he’s bullish on companies where artificial intelligence is going to lower their costs and drive productivity. He didn’t reveal which AI stocks he’s betting on after selling out of Nvidia and Microsoft.
‘Risks are overblown’
As for concerns that Trump’s punitive tariffs would spoil the market rally and spike inflation, Druckenmiller believes that the revenue generated by duties could lessen the pressing fiscal problem in the country.

“We have a fiscal problem, we need revenues,” Druckenmiller said. “To me, tariffs are simply a consumption tax that foreigners pay for some of it. Now the risk is retaliation, but as long as we stay in the 10% range, …I think the risks are overblown relative to the rewards, the rewards on high.”

Trump’s trade memorandum to be issued Monday would not impose tariffs yet. His camp has been reportedly discussing a schedule of graduated tariffs increasing by about 2% to 5% a month on trading partners.
Druckenmiller once managed George Soros’ Quantum Fund and shot to fame after helping make a $10 billion bet against the British pound in 1992. He later oversaw $12 billion as president of Duquesne Capital Management before closing his firm in 2010.  More