Crypto might have been one of the biggest winners in Tuesday's elections, and one of the factors that catapulted Donald Trump to victory, according to two of the industry’s leading pundits.
"Make no mistake about it—crypto won the election last night," Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset Management, said in a blog post yesterday.
Advisor Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals (DACFP) and an outspoken proponent of crypto, shared in Hougan's enhusisam, predicting the election results will lead to an explosion in crypto access and value.
“With the Senate and White House now definitively in Republican control, this assures us that passage of crypto laws and regulations will swiftly occur in 2025,” Edelman said in an interview.
Hougan and Edelman said they expect Republican lawmakers to spearhead pro-crypto legislation on stablecoins, market structure, and more.
Hougan noted that the GOP "has pro-crypto policies written into its party platform."
As a result of the victory, the Republican party will enter power in January with a “strong mandate to follow through on its campaign commitments to the crypto industry,” which include a change of leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the likely end of Operation Choke Point 2.0, which restricts crypto companies from accessing the traditional banking system, Hougan wrote.
Edlman said crypto-friendly legislation is now inevitable.
While the House majority is not yet confirmed, “it doesn’t matter for crypto,” he said. “[T]here is a large contingent of Democrat members of the House who support crypto—and they will cross the aisle to support bipartisan legislation clarifying and improving the crypto marketplace.
“The Republican sweep eliminates the last obstacle that has prevented advisors from agreeing to engage with crypto,” Edelman said.
Already 40% of advisors recommend crypto to at least half of their clients, up from 32% in March 2024, according to findings from DACFP’s June 2024 Advisor Pulse Survey sponsored by Franklin Templeton.
President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, along with a possible red sweep in Congress and the prospect of a changing SEC leadership, has sent the price of bitcoin soaring to an all time high of $76,457.
“Barring black swans, it is likely to end 2025 about $150,000 and it will end 2030 above $420,000,” Edelman predicted.
In the short term, Hougan said he can’t predict “if we will hold the highs or pull back. But in the medium to long term, I see us going much, much higher. To be specific: I expect Bitcoin to approach $100k this year and $200k in 2025.
"Other crypto assets (which previously faced more regulatory risk) may do even better,” he said. The price for Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF (BITB) has jumped nearly 7.5% since the election.
As for who’s replace SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, “President-Elect Trump has not offered names, so no one yet knows,” Edelman said.
“Everyone in the crypto community would be thrilled to have SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce nominated, but she is unlikely to be nominated, and she has expressed no interest in the position. All we know is that next SEC chair, if Trump remains good to his word, will be someone who is strongly supportive of crypto,” he said.
Hougan said that crypto has been operating with both hands tied behind its back and will now be unbound.
“It has faced countless lawsuits from the SEC and hostile actions from other regulators," Hougan said. "Even basic rights, like the ability to access banking services or custody Bitcoin in an institutional setting, have been constrained or under threat."
But much of that shadow is being swept away due to the election of a pro-crypto Congress and president in Washington.
Even before the election, there have been $23 billion in inflows into the bitcoin ETFs approved in January, 25 hedge funds own bitcoin and major institutions such as Emory University are disclosing new positions in crypto every day, he said.
“The upside is staggering: There are trillions of dollars of institutional assets that currently have 0% exposure to crypto; that was already beginning to change before yesterday’s result, and it will accelerate from here,” Hougan said. Wall Street and broker-dealers are following suit.
“We were in a bull market before last night’s election result; the outcome will only accelerate things,” he added.