After the surprisingly clear victory in the US presidential election, it’s not just Donald Trump and his supporters who are celebrating – crypto investors have also had a lot to celebrate since then. Bitcoin rose to a record high of more than $80,000 in the days after the election. Never before has the oldest and best-known cryptocurrency been so expensive.
Trump’s election victory is being celebrated in the scene as a great win for supporters of the technology. “The crypto voter has spoken decisively,” wrote Brian Armstrong, head of the US crypto exchange Coinbase, on the social network .
Cryptocurrency prices had already risen sharply in the weeks before the US election. Investors’ hopes were based primarily on statements made by Donald Trump during the election campaign, in which he made several positive comments about cryptocurrencies. At an industry conference, he promised to “make America the crypto and Bitcoin capital of the world.” He also wants to be “the pro-innovation and pro-Bitcoin president that America needs.”
Will Bitcoin be less controlled under Trump?
As his first official act, Trump plans to fire Gary Gensler, the current head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and a harsh critic of Bitcoin. A change in leadership could result in crypto tokens being classified less strictly as securities, for example – a move that could significantly ease the regulatory environment. A reduction in taxes on capital gains is also conceivable, but this is certainly not the case.
Trump is pursuing a different course than the Biden administration, which advocates greater regulation of cryptocurrencies. These enable digital payments without the need for banks as intermediaries. A possible deregulation of Bitcoin therefore also entails risks: less supervision could increase the risk of fraud, money laundering and speculative bubbles.
