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Cryptocurrency Gets Political as Industry Leaders Bet on Trump — TradingView News
In the run-up to the US presidential election, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have become key political talking points in a way that has never been seen before. This can partly be attributed to the relative youth of the industry, as at the time of the 2020 election, Bitcoin had been in operation for eleven years, Ethereum had only been in operation for five years, and many key DeFi protocols were only two or three years old (Maker, for example, launched as a working product in 2017, Uniswap and Compound in 2018).
But looking ahead to 2024, things have changed rapidly: BTC spot ETFs operated by BlackRock and Vanguard (among others) are now part of the TradFi landscape, ETH spot ETFs are also set to launch later this summer, and according to a recent report, 40% of Americans now hold cryptocurrencies.
The financial tycoons
Data from Security.org
This time around, crypto has become too big to ignore, Wall Street has taken the lead and put bitcoin on its menu, regardless of politics, and furthermore, a crypto-unfriendly SEC has forced crypto industry leaders to take positions where resistance becomes a matter of survival, which increasingly means aligning with, and influencing, pro-crypto political candidates.
After all, if legal battles with the SEC become the norm for cryptocurrency companies, and the SEC is approved by the Biden administration, then it is unlikely that the cryptocurrency industry will settle for the same.
Aligning with a pro-crypto alternative of course requires that there actually be a pro-crypto candidate, which in turn can incentivize the creation of pro-crypto policies among candidates, and if we look at the Trump camp and the support Trump receives within the crypto industry, we can see this dynamic playing out.
Kraken Founder Donates to Trump
In late June, Jesse Powell, the founder of major cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, posted on X announcing that he had personally donated $1 million, mostly in ETH, to Donald Trump. Powell describes Trump as the “only major-party pro-crypto candidate in the 2024 presidential election,” and directly states that “the cryptocurrency industry has been under attack by Elizabeth Warren, Gary Gensler, and others,” also claiming that “the Biden White House has stood by and allowed an unchecked regulatory campaign by law enforcement.”
I just made a personal donation of $1 million (mostly #ETH) has @realDonaldTrump.
For too long, the crypto industry has been under attack from Elizabeth Warren, Gary Gensler, and others. Despite overwhelming efforts by both parties in Congress to put clear rules in place, the Biden White House has… pic.twitter.com/Ksxf3P2oCb
Powell’s message is unequivocal in assigning responsibility to the Democratic administration and the SEC, and notably ends with the hashtag “#freeross.” This is a reference to Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced in 2015 to double life in prison plus forty years without parole for creating and running the online black market Silk Road, which primarily facilitated drug dealing paid for in BTC. This is relevant to Powell’s message because last month, Trump pledged to commute Ulbricht’s sentence to time served if elected, demonstrating his awareness that the Silk Road operator’s incarceration is a major problem among bitcoin veterans, who view Ulbricht’s sentence as disproportionately harsh.
Other Cryptocurrency and Business Leaders Back Trump
Jesse Powell isn’t the only prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry to publicly endorse Trump, as support has also come from Gemini founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and ARK Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood, who said of her voting intentions, “I’m an economics voter, and on that basis, Trump.”
In June, a fundraiser for Trump was held at the San Francisco home of tech entrepreneur David Sacks. Late last month, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman issued what seemed like an indirect endorsement, or at least an exhortation to work productively if Trump won, as he said, “The country should rally around Trump and help him succeed,” since Trump “is going to win in a landslide.”
.@realDonaldTrump will win hands down. The country should rally behind Trump and help him succeed.
Trump didn’t expect to win the first time he was elected. So he was completely unprepared. The lack of preparation, the Russia investigation and the aftermath that followed…
Additionally, Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey publicly announced in May that his organization was “working with the Trump campaign to develop its policy agenda on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.” This announcement came shortly before Trump’s campaign began accepting cryptocurrency donations, and before Trump spoke out about Ross Ulbricht and was applauded for his commitment to defending bitcoin mining in the United States.
Are SOL ETF applications a bet on Trump?
Last month, VanEck and 21Shares filed applications for spot SOL ETFs. While similar products for BTC and ETH have been approved, a Solana fund seemed an unlikely option as it moves further out on the altcoin risk curve, and there is no existing Solana futures market.
Some observers have therefore interpreted these nominations as a bet that an incoming Trump presidency would bring crypto-friendly changes to the SEC. As a result, there has been speculation about who might, under these circumstances, take over the SEC chair role, with Dan Gallagher being one of the names that has been floated in the media and enthusiastically received. Gallagher is the current CLO of trading and investment platform Robinhood and a former SEC commissioner, and is expected to take an open approach to cryptocurrencies.
Speculation about appointments is still speculation, but expectations that the SEC’s character will change under a new chairman are real. Moreover, last month the Supreme Court struck down the Chevron Doctrine, an outcome that is expected to shift power (with respect to interpreting congressional laws) from the regulatory agencies to the courts, perhaps limiting the extent to which the SEC can, as its critics claim, rule through enforcement.
What seems certain for now is that a crypto industry that has repeatedly expressed frustration with U.S. regulators now sees opportunity in the upcoming election.