With the US presidential election looming, crypto believers are nervously eyeing the results, many convinced that a win for the former US president Donald J Trump is a boon for Bitcoin prices. Trump, once a crypto skeptic, has raised the hopes of investors by getting closer to the industry’s way of thinking, even promising to make the US ‘the crypto capital of the world’. A publicly stated advocate of crypto, the former US leader has taken steps to encourage the industry, such as legally approving an initial public offering of shares in Coinbase, the US crypto investment exchange. This, together with Trump’s general pro-business stance, has helped propel Bitcoin to nearly record highs – leading many to suggest the world’s number one crypto could hit between $80,000- to 90,000 if the former US head of state wins, while a victory by the vice-president Kamala Harris might see prices drop to as much as $50,000 as observers expect the latter’s administration to continue pursuing tight regulation.
The election may come to be seen as a key inflection point for the industry, which has grown politically active. The industry has reportedly spent more than $100 million on pro-crypto super PACs targeted toward key congressional races in hopes of producing a friendlier crypto Congress that can stave off regulatory crackdowns. Trump and Harris’ competing signals of support for industry promises a large shift in the regulatory outlook based on the outcome of the election Crypto’s involvement in the political landscape this cycle illustrates the increasing significance of the industry and the high stakes for its future within the US market.
All in all, ongoing political developments, regulatory scenarios and the accelerating digitalisation of mainstream financial ecosystems will continue to inflate (and deflate) the bubbly, high-risk nature of market volatility surrounding Bitcoin and a growing number of alternative digital assets. This year’s election could open the US economy to a flourishing climate for domestic cryptocurrency innovation or it could further prod the industry to pursue friendlier regulatory climates abroad, showcasing the unavoidable connection between politics and financial innovation in the age of omnipresent computers.
Source: The New York Times
