In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin (BTC) has increased in value by over 7%, now at around $74,000, following the victory of former President Donald Trump, who won both the electoral vote and the popular vote, earning a mandate for change.
Unlike his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump embraced digital asset innovation early in his campaign – thus garnering the support of many leaders in the crypto-sphere.
While Harris more recently voiced her support for crypto innovation, it was effectively too little, too late viewed as pandering needed to buttress a flagging campaign.
While Bitcoin is higher, other popular cryptocurrencies have reacted to the results too. At this moment, Solana (SOL) is up by a whopping 14% in 24 hours, XRP is up by almost 5% and, yes, DOGE is making a big move having jumped by over 14% 16%.
While Trump is expected to support digital asset innovation, a change at the Securities and Exchange Commission means that a huge impediment to development will go away. Current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will be replaced in the coming months. Gensler has long stated that all digital assets are securities and then pursued a policy of regulation by enforcement, throttling sector growth and frustrating digital asset firms that want clarity of rules to provide a service that is in demand.
As the Senate will now be controlled by Republicans and the House looks like Republicans will maintain control, there is now a clear path for legislation that provides bespoke regulations for digital assets.
Update: Bitcoin is now pushing $90,000 with the bulls firmly in control and the punditry is predicting BTC will move even higher from here.