A NEW DAWN FOR CRYPTO

It's aptly said that "When America Sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold." Case in point, after the US's BTC ETF approval, Hong Kong and Australia jumped on the bandwagon. Hence, Trump's pro-crypto goals and policies are sure to influence other countries that are cautious of the alternative form of payment.

- PAROMITA GUPTA

Following Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris as the 47th President of the United States, the cryptocurrency ecosystem is jubilant—surpassing a market cap of USD three trillion for the first time. Trump has moved on from his stance on crypto— declaring Bitcoin “not a real money” and criticizing it as “highly volatile and based on thin air”— to become a pro-crypto advocate during his 2024 campaign and vouching to make the US “crypto capital of the planet.” Among the crypto coins, Bitcoin’s (BTC) performance has superseded the rest, surging from over USD 69,000 in the early hours of November 6, 2024, to over USD 99,000 on December 6, 2024. BTC has overtaken silver and Saudi Aramco to become the seventh-largest asset in the world. On December 17, BTC touched an all-time high of USD 108,268.45. Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), and other altcoins have also seen an uptick in their price tags post-election verdict.

DECODING THE CRYPTO POLITICS: A tracker run by a group called Stand with Crypto noted that 274 pro-crypto candidates had been elected to the House and 20 to the Senate this cycle. This is a stark contrast to President Joe Biden’s reluctance to support the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry.