Dollar Reaches Highest Point in Over a Decade Amid Investor Frenzy

The US dollar has reached its highest point in over a decade, with investor bets on the greenback climbing to their highest level since 2015, according to new Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. The greenback has been the top-performing traditional safe-haven asset since the start of the war in Iran, outperforming gold, Treasury securities, and the Japanese yen.

The dollar's rally comes after last year's post-election and tariff-fueled decline of around 10 percent. Wall Street sentiment toward the greenback has shifted from bearish to bullish in recent months, with long speculative positioning in the US dollar among hedge funds and asset managers increasing by about $43 billion for the week ending July 21.

The U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback against a weighted basket of currencies, is up about 3 percent this year and is at its highest level since early 2025. The White House's preferred Nominal Broad Dollar Index has also risen about 3 percent since reaching its February bottom.

However, not all experts are optimistic about the dollar's future performance. Bas Kooijman, CEO and asset manager at DHF Capital, warned that a deeper decline in oil could reinforce disinflationary pressures and curb monetary policy tightening expectations, extending the drag on yields and the dollar.