Bitcoin BTCUSD was fully onboard with Donald Trump’s race to the White House. With much fanfare and celebration, the orange coin crossed $76,000 to hit a new record as the former President clinched the top spot in American politics in a stunning comeback, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris.
So, what’s with that big surge and what can you expect ahead for the crypto industry under a Trump presidency? Let’s find out.
Bitcoin BTCUSD, the original cryptocurrency, is in full beast mode now that former President Donald Trump has defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to win the White House. The price of Bitcoin rocketed to the rarefied air of $76,000 on Wednesday, gaining more than 9% on the day and catapulting its valuation to a record $1.5 trillion.
Bitcoin has been a centerpiece in Donald Trump’s campaigning efforts. It’s part technology, part investment — two things Trump loves and embraces. In fact, he seems enamored with the coin and went the extra mile for it. Not only has he reiterated his support for the crypto industry, but has vowed to make the US “the Bitcoin superpower of the world” and the “crypto capital of the world.”
Big-shot crypto players, such as Andreessen Horowitz and Gemini founders the Winklevoss twins are cheering Trump’s victory after they had endorsed him and spent lavishly on his campaign and on promoting pro-crypto candidates for Congress.
“We are on the brink of a new American Renaissance,” said Tyler Winklevoss in a post on X. “The crypto army is striking!”
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase COIN, also praised Trump’s election win. “Welcome to the new members of America's most pro-crypto Congress ever…” the crypto exchange boss said on X. “219+ pro-crypto candidates and counting have now been elected to the House & Senate.” “Tonight the crypto voter has spoken decisively.”
Hopes are high now and the agenda is already looking busy. Overjoyed crypto circles expect three main things from Trump:
1) To pass crypto-friendly laws and regulations that will help propel the industry ahead of its foreign competitors (China and Russia, mostly) in terms of business, mining and trading.
2) To fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler “on day one.” Gensler is seen as a villain to the broader adoption of crypto both on Wall Street and in general. During Gensler’s tenure, the SEC has chased down crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase, Kraken and Crypto.com with more than 100 lawsuits.
3) To create a Bitcoin strategic reserve — a lofty ambition, which will make sure the US government never sells its Bitcoin (currently the US holds roughly 200,000 BTC). More on this below.
There’s already a bill introduced by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R–Wyo.) to whip up a reserve with a target of 1 million Bitcoin over five years (200,000 BTC a year).
“For too long our government has violated the cardinal rule that every bitcoiner knows by heart: Never sell your bitcoin,” Trump has said during a campaign speech.
“If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, United States of America, to keep 100% of all the Bitcoin the US government currently holds or acquires into the future,” he said. Currently, the government every now and then auctions off its Bitcoin, which has been seized from criminals.
With that in mind, how is Trump and the Republicans broadly going to approach the next four years?
Besides Bitcoin, how did the result of Election Day bump up other digital assets and crypto stocks?
Ethereum ETHUSD, the second-largest coin, got a 10% boost to its price, going over $2,800 a piece. Solana SOLUSD, an Ethereum rival, pumped to levels above $190 from under $170. Dogecoin DOGEUSD, the Shiba Inu-themed coin beloved by Musk, surged more than 30% in volatile trading and crossed 21 cents before paring back some of the gains to slide under the 20-cent threshold. In general, it was a good day for cryptocurrency markets.
Crypto stocks reacted with a sharp dash to higher grounds as well. Crypto exchange Coinbase COIN pumped 31% to notch its best day ever. Bitcoin-hoarding software firm MicroStrategy MSTR surged 13%, lifting its year-to-day gains to a whopping 276% increase.
Crypto miners’ stocks also participated in the rally. Riot Platforms RIOT gained 26% on the day, followed by Marathon Digital’s MARA 19% increase. Another Bitcoin miner, Core Scientific CORZ, closed up by 10% on the day.
Over to the exchange-traded fund space. The burgeoning crypto ETF space turned up some impressive figures. The pack of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively pulled in $612 million of net new money on Wednesday. The spot Bitcoin investment vehicles now command $26 billion in assets under management.
Ethereum ETFs, a bundle of 9, picked up $52 million of daily net inflows, bringing the total amount of investments to $1.35 billion.
With that said, were you brave enough to chip in before the big Election Day? And do you think the door to $100,000 is now wide open? Drop your thoughts below and let’s whip up the discussion!
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