Author: Jessy, Golden Finance
The bullet passed through the upper part of Trump's right ear. At 6:11 p.m. Eastern Time on July 13, 2024, Trump was assassinated.
At that time, Trump not only had an impact on the US political arena, but also had a profound impact on the direction of the crypto industry. After Trump was assassinated, the market, which had been sluggish for several weeks, suddenly picked up, and Bitcoin briefly broke through $66,000 on July 17. The positive expectations related to the US election have been advanced.
Trump criticized encryption in the early years, but now he has become a supporter of encryption. Currently, there are more than 50 million cryptocurrency holders in the United States. It is a very realistic consideration that in order to win the votes of these people, Trump should also support encryption.
According to the current public opinion in the United States, Trump is likely to be re-elected as president. Trump's promise to support encryption after his election is a major boon to the industry. The support of a country's president for encryption will promote the accelerated compliance and rapid popularization of the encryption industry.
In the last bull market, Musk was the strongest promoter of cryptocurrency, and he made Doge popular. In this bull market, Trump has undoubtedly taken over from Musk and become the trendsetting figure of cryptocurrency.
The industry's icons have evolved from industry insiders to business tycoons to former US presidents, which is a sign that the industry is gradually moving toward the mainstream. Trump's current position in the crypto industry indicates that the development of the crypto industry is becoming more and more closely tied to politics and the country.
Trump is a businessman first, then a presidential candidate
Racism, incitement to profiteering, obvious misogyny, anti-environmentalism... these are all negative labels on Trump. In an increasingly divided and radical America, these labels just cater to the interests of a large number of Americans today.
Trump is also a very shrewd businessman. He does not care about values or political correctness, but more about practical interests. His specific policy strategies are indeed ensuring the current interests of the United States, boosting the economy and reducing unemployment, which is indeed in line with the interests of the majority of the American people.
Such a Trump is welcomed by young voters. As a businessman, or to cater to his voters, choosing to support and embrace encryption is a very wise decision. By combing Trump's attitude towards encryption, it can be clearly perceived that his attitude towards encryption has always been driven by interests.
In fact, during his first term as president from 2017 to 2021, Trump was still against the crypto industry. At that time, he criticized crypto assets on social media and said that he would not hold any cryptocurrency. At that time, looking around the world, the attitude towards the crypto industry was more resistance than acceptance. From the perspective of preventing financial risks, governments of various countries issued yellow card warnings to virtual currencies. As the leader of a country, Trump's remarks represent the attitude of a country.
In 2021, after he left office, during the NFT wave, Trump was deeply involved in it, issuing three NFTs related to himself and making a fortune. At that time, Trump's businessman nature was highlighted in his attitude towards the crypto industry.
In this year's election year, both Trump and Biden have stated that they will be crypto-friendly after taking office. At a time when encryption is becoming more and more popular, it is not a wise move to go against the trend of the times. Expressing a crypto-friendly attitude is undoubtedly an important means to win votes and is in the interests of the American people and government.
Although Trump is a presidential candidate, we cannot ignore that he is a businessman. This is his biggest label. Crypto is his business first and a political bargaining chip second. This year, Trump said that he would launch the fourth series of NFT. In Trump's view, the previous three series of NFT were successful, "45,000 sold out in one day."
Let's look at Biden again. It was during his presidency that the SEC conducted strict investigations and prosecutions on leading institutions in the crypto industry, such as Binance. During this campaign, he also expressed his support for crypto.
The change in these politicians' attitudes towards encryption can be seen earlier from the change in their parties' attitudes towards encryption. Politicians are not isolated.
On May 22 of this year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act (“FIT21”). This is a landmark legislation for the crypto market. The bill aims to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets. The bill received bipartisan support, with 279 votes in favor (67%). This event also shows that cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly important in the political landscape, and the attitudes of both parties towards cryptocurrencies have undoubtedly turned to support.
The two parties have quickly turned to support cryptocurrencies, with the most direct promotion being the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of an Ethereum spot ETF, another milestone in the development of the industry.
The politicians’ original intentions in supporting encryption are less important than the results.
In the last bull market, Musk was the icon of the crypto industry. In this bull market, the baton has been passed to Trump. This change actually shows that the influence of the crypto industry is growing. From influencing the business community to influencing today's political arena.
For the United States, embracing encryption is in the interest of the United States. And as the next U.S. president can truly be encryption-friendly, Web3 will take another big step towards compliance, and encryption will affect more and more people and society.
Crypto is no longer the plaything of a small group of geeks, it is moving towards the mainstream.
Embracing encryption is also a profit-seeking behavior of the US government
In an exclusive interview with Bloomberg, Trump said he did not want other countries to take over the crypto industry. In recent years, the United States has indeed become the unquestionable center, big brother and rule maker of the crypto industry.
To become the big brother of the industry, the strategy adopted by the United States is to first severely punish and investigate, so that the industry knows that the United States has the final say and must listen to the United States. After holding the main institutions in its hands, it will promote the development of the industry and "ensure that Web3 happens in the United States." In an interview, Trump compared the encryption industry to a baby, and what the United States does is to let this American grow into an "American" under the supervision and guidance of the United States.
During the last bear market, the United States was actually unfriendly to the crypto industry, and the hammer of regulation has never left the crypto industry.
First is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), one of the most authoritative committees in the field of financial regulation in the United States. It has absolute authority in the economic field and is an independent judicial system. Its supervision of the crypto industry was initially based on the Securities Act, which identified virtual assets as securities, and then punished institutions and individuals for violating the Securities Act.
Since 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating whether some crypto assets on platforms such as Binance and Coinbase are unregistered "securities". After Ethereum switched from POW to POS, the SEC determined that it was a "security", and recently determined that FTX's token FTT was a "security", thus deeply intervening in FTX's bankruptcy reorganization case.
The SEC has been suing leading institutions in the industry. In the first half of 2023, it sued Genesis, Kraken, Binance, Coinbase and other large institutions. For example, Coinbase was accused of illegally operating crypto asset securities business without registration; Ripple's token sales were sued for violating securities laws. And it not only regulates the United States, but also has a long reach. Previously, the Gram token issued by Telrgram for fundraising was identified as a security by the SEC, so it took regulatory enforcement measures against Telegram's issuance and fundraising on the grounds of protecting the interests of American investors.
The second is the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is mainly responsible for regulating the U.S. commodity futures, options and financial futures and options markets. In 2021, the CFTC filed lawsuits against Tether and Bitfinex exchanges, accusing the two companies of fabricating trading volumes and misappropriating customer funds and suspected of violating anti-money laundering laws. In 2020, the CFTC, the FBI, and the U.S. Department of Justice jointly sued BitMEX and its founders and executives for failing to implement compliance measures, violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act.
In March 2023, the CFTC also filed a lawsuit against Binance for non-compliant options and futures trading and violation of KYC and anti-money laundering compliance obligations. It also participated in the lawsuit against FTX.
It is under such strict inspections and strict management that the cryptocurrency industry has suffered dark moments again and again. Especially in 2022 and 2023, the US SEC and CFTC conducted strict inspections on cryptocurrency exchanges and launched a year-long investigation into platforms such as Binance and Coinbase. In 2023, the SEC sued Binance and its founder Zhao Changpeng, which dealt a heavy blow to the crypto industry.
Judging from the current attitudes of the presidential candidates towards encryption, the two major parties in the United States turned to support encryption in May this year. Looking back at the previous strict supervision of the encryption industry by the United States, it can be clearly felt that the United States initially had strict and long-arm jurisdiction over encryption, which was ostensibly to protect the interests of Americans and prevent financial risks, but these actions actually put the control of the encryption industry in its own hands. After gaining power, it used loose policies to support and promote the development of the industry and ensure that "Web3 happens in the United States."
Currently, the penetration rate of the crypto industry in the United States is extremely high. According to TripleA data, the United States has more than 52 million cryptocurrency users and ranks at the top in terms of ownership ratio. In the United States, cryptocurrencies are mainly owned by the wealthy class, and most holders have high education. The United States is also the government that holds the most Bitcoin.
In terms of computing power, it controls nearly 40% of Bitcoin's computing power, ranking first. Its virtual currency spot ETF has the largest amount of funds. In terms of crypto venture capital, Galaxy Digital data shows that there are 324 venture capital companies focusing on cryptocurrencies in the United States, far more than the 66 in Singapore, which ranks second.
As encryption and the state become more and more closely tied, the encryption industry will undoubtedly move away from the original intention of Satoshi Nakamoto when he wrote the code in 2008. With the support of the state, Bitcoin will become more and more mainstream. Although the Bitcoin code will not be changed, Bitcoin has finally been incorporated into traditional finance and recruited by the country it originally wanted to fight against.
