30s Summary

Donald Trump, former U.S. President, is projected to retake the White House in the latest election, beating Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump’s win would likely be a positive for the crypto industry, given his more relaxed regulatory stance. This election cycle saw Trump heavily engage with the crypto industry, including participating in Bitcoin events. He pledged measures appealing to the industry, such as firing SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Predictions indicate that Trump is likely to win key states like Pennsylvania, and potentially, the popular vote. The Republican party also won control of the Senate.

Full Article

Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks set to retake the White House, needing only a few more electoral votes from a strongly Republican state, beating Vice President Kamala Harris. This could mean a more relaxed regulation environment for cryptocurrency in the U.S., the world’s biggest economy.

Crypto hadn’t been a big talking point this election cycle, but Trump, who’s running for president for the third time as a Republican candidate, did a lot to reach out to the crypto industry. He spoke at a Bitcoin conference, handed out burgers at a crypto bar, and made various statements that were appealing to the industry. One of his promises was to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler. Harris, the Democratic candidate, made some general comments about supporting the industry, but didn’t really go into her views.

On Wednesday morning, big networks like ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC projected that Trump would win Pennsylvania, a key state with 19 electoral votes. Alongside Alaska, which is also likely to give its three electoral votes to Trump, the former president will win the presidency. The New York Times also projected he might win the popular vote, something no Republican has done since George W. Bush in 2004. As of press time, Trump was leading Harris by about 5 million votes.

Republicans also won control of the Senate, flipping seats in Ohio and West Virginia. In Trump’s first term as president, his regulators introduced a controversial crypto wallet proposal that didn’t make it under the Biden administration, as well as a special purpose broker dealer license that was later finalized under Gensler.

Despite his previous record, this election cycle saw Trump promising to appoint a new chair to the securities regulator, and declaring that “Bitcoin will be made in the USA” on social media and in speeches. He also promised to free Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road developer, who was convicted on multiple charges for creating and operating the dark web marketplace.

Trump’s crypto-friendly stance earned him vocal support from parts of the crypto industry. He built on this support by selling multiple waves of non-fungible tokens.

“Bitcoin is not just a marvel of technology, as you know, it’s a miracle of cooperation and human achievement and a lot of relationships that are formed. They just had a meeting, a roundtable, with a lot of the leaders, and it’s amazing,” Trump said at Bitcoin Nashville. “There’s a great camaraderie.”

Recently, Trump has also started to use more heavy-handed rhetoric, warning about “the enemy within” the U.S. and promising mass deportations over the past few months of his campaign. His economic policies also heavily rely on imposing tariffs on various U.S. imports.