Musk and Trump Clash Publicly, Affecting Associated Assets; Market Volatility Highlights Risks of Celebrity Effects
Recently, the public dispute between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former U.S. President Donald Trump triggered a ripple effect in the financial markets. This public relations battle between billionaires led to a widespread decline in assets associated with the two public figures, especially noticeable in cryptocurrencies and thematic investment funds.
Market data shows that Dogecoin, which Musk has long endorsed, experienced a single-day drop of 10% during the event's escalation, while the publicly listed fund tracking the SpaceX supply chain plummeted by 13%. Meanwhile, some concept assets related to Trump also saw varying degrees of decline. This phenomenon once again exposes the potential risks of "celebrity-driven investments"—when market sentiment overly relies on the words and actions of specific public figures, asset prices often display unconventional volatility.
In recent years, with the proliferation of new financial products such as crypto tokens and thematic ETFs, retail investors have been able to more easily bet on the influence of business leaders and political figures. However, analysts point out that such investments often lack traditional fundamental support, making their valuations more susceptible to unpredictable factors like public opinion shifts and social media dynamics.
The head of digital asset research at JPMorgan noted: "When asset prices are highly tied to personal reputations, investors are essentially taking on double risk—both evaluating market fundamentals and predicting the trajectories of public figures’ words and actions." He recommends that ordinary investors strictly control their position ratios when allocating such assets and avoid making celebrity effects the core basis for investment decisions.
Currently, the market is closely monitoring the follow-up dynamics of the two opinion leaders, and some hedge funds have begun adjusting their risk exposure to related assets. This turmoil also provides regulators with a new research case on how to assess and manage the special risks of "celebrity-associated assets," which may become a new topic in future financial regulation.
