Crypto already won the 2024 election

Crypto might not be a top policy priority for both US presidential candidates, yet it seems to be an asset class prime to gain regardless of the outcome of the election.

Top venture capital investors including Pantera Capital, Dragonfly, Framework Ventures and SkyBridge Capital expect cryptocurrencies to get a boost on the back of potentially clearer regulations, regardless of who wins in November. The US Securities and Exchange Commission under Chair Gary Gensler has viewed most tokens as unregistered securities and has acted against issuers and exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, Ripple and Consensys. Those lawsuits and concerns about further US regulatory crackdowns have been driving projects and investment away from the world’s biggest digital-asset market.

That could potentially be changing, thanks to shifting political winds — fueled by tens of millions of dollars in political-action committee spending. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican opponent Donald Trump have both come out to express support for crypto, albeit to differing degrees. While Trump has been proactively courting the industry, while even promoting a new crypto project himself, Harris has been more subtle by promising to support “innovative technologies like AI and digital assets, while protecting our consumers and investors.”

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are shown on screen in the spin room during the second presidential debate in September.

Founders who were on the sidelines, worried they might end up breaking a law if they rolled out their project in the US, could have a change of heart should the regulatory environment improves, which is one of the flagship events in the digital asset space for crypto watchers after the election.

“We would hope that we see more great opportunities, more great companies being built in the US,” said Franklin Bi, general partner at Pantera Capital, which has about 47% of its capital invested outside of the US. “It could also be a tide that lifts all boats as there’s a ton of activity happening outside US.”