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Fighting the pandemic hasn’t been cheap.
The passage of the $1.9 trillion economic aid bill last week brings the total stimulus tab to $5 trillion since the onset of the crisis. For comparison, the stimulus package signed into law in 2009 during the depths of the Great Recession was $787 billion—or $975 billion in 2021 dollars.
While the unprecedented stimulus spending has helped tens of millions families stay afloat economically, it’s also helped drive up the asset values of everything from housing to the stock market. Additionally, this period has coincided with a hyperbolic jump in the price of cryptocurrencies: Since the passage of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act in March 2020, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are up 788% and 1,264%, respectively. Most of that boom has come since December—the same month the $900 billion package was passed.
That prompts the question: Will the $1.9 trillion aid package signed into law by President Joe Biden set off another crypto boom?
Fortune posed that question to Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush. He’s bullish on everything, including crypto.
“We believe this latest package passed by the Beltway could add another 5% to 7% rally to the market with our view that Nasdaq hits 16,000 by the end of the year. While many believe this [stimulus package] is baked into the market, we disagree and believe it will add to the ‘risk on’ trade with tech, EVs, and crypto, front and center. The reopening trade is here, and we believe the bull market is just widening to other sectors,” Ives told Fortune.
It’s easy to see why Ives, a notorious tech bull, foresees stimulus boosting crypto. In the coming weeks, over $400 billion will be pumped into American households through stimulus checks. This $1,400 check round is the biggest of the payments sent during the pandemic. While it will help millions of households make ends meet, others plan to invest the “free money.” A recent Deutsche Bank poll of investors finds those ages 25 to 34 plan to spend 50% of their stimulus payments on investments.
More must-read finance coverage from Fortune:
- Charts: The U.S. will spend billions in stimulus to tackle child poverty, but that’s still way behind other countries
- Expecting a baby in 2021? You could end up with another $1,400 stimulus check
- Bitcoin? Food? Debt? How most Americans actually plan to spend their stimulus checks
- Companies face calls to bring “dark money” political spending into the light
- Your stimulus check could disappear before you ever see it, thanks to debt collectors
- After its IPO, Coupang eyes South Korea domination
- Everything the new stimulus package includes for college students, from emergency aid to tax-free loan forgiveness
