The results of the American General election will be reverberating around the world far more than those occurring in any other country this year, from the UK to India, Japan to South Africa. While the elections in those countries – and their varied results – have their ramifications, they will always be much greater in the world’s most powerful nation.
While there will be no end of commentary on Donald Trump’s return to the White House and Kamala Harris’s defeat, it will also be significant that the Republicans secured a majority in the Senate and, at the time of writing, look likely to hold a majority in the Congress as well.
If the party has managed to do all that as well as recapture the White House, it will be full steam ahead with Mr Trump’s policy programme. But while some of this will be all about domestic affairs that will only concern Americans, there could be some wider ramifications – and Volta Wallet holders may be affected as some of it concerns crypto.
Trump’s Positive Crypto Stance
Commentators everywhere have noted that crypto is a big winner in this election, with Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high. The reason for this is that Donald Trump has made pledges to be a supporter of the crypto economy. Having insisted in his victory speech that his administration will be all about “promises made, promises kept”, this will be one to watch.
His Democrat rival Kamala Harris had made some positive comments herself about encouraging crypto, but her party as a whole has been rather less supportive, with senators like Elizabeth Warren seeking to impose tighter regulation on crypto, a matching the position of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler.
Trump, who had been critical of Crypto in his first term as president, has promised to protect the industry against what he sees as excessive regulation and replace Mr Gensler, with his plans including a ‘Bitcoin Treasury’, which he announced at a crypto conference he attended in July.
Chief executive of Isle of Man-based CoinCorner Danny Scott told the Independent that the plan for a Bitcoin Treasury is now “one step closer to reality”.
He added: “While there are a lot of moving parts to Bitcoin‘s success, the immediate price increase reaction to Trump’s initial win announcement indicates significant market confidence.”
Before the election, it was noted that some pro-crypto senators like Republican Ted Cruz faced a fight to stay in office. But Cruz won his contest and if Trump’s allies do end up with control of all three branches of government, none of the plans of what the president-elect (in characteristic style) called “Elizabeth Warren and her goons” can come to pass.
The Opportunities A Crypto Boost Creates
All of this may be played out in the politics of the United States, but it has implications elsewhere. For Volta Wallet holders who have 90,000 possible pairs to trade with, there may be a lot of opportunities now and in the months ahead as pro-crypto policies are passed to invest in currencies that are enjoying a significant rise in value.
This is not to say none of the positive movement seen by Bitcoin and others would be possible under a Harris presidency or under different House and Senate results, but that might only be clear over time as the nature of the regulation became apparent – if a balance was found between Harris’s pro-crypto words and the concerns of Gensler and Warren.
Ultimately, speculation about what might have happened under different results is now pointless. What matters is what will happen and the global ramifications.
A Bipartisan Approach To Regulation?
Amid the often fierce partisanship that has characterised American politics in recent years, some have expressed the hope that crypto regulation will not be a red v blue matter.
Those expressing such a view include former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, who warned that Democrats should not be against crypto just because Trump is in favour. He told Saxo: “I think we have to depoliticize our regulatory decisions and make them more about right or wrong as opposed to left or right.”
Of course, crypto is subject to regulations in a number of countries, including the UK, and there is no need to see these as onerous if they are designed first and foremost to protect those who trade and invest in them, for example by protecting against scams or market manipulation. This would simply bring them into line with much-regulated financial entities.
What is not in doubt is that these are very interesting times for Crypto, so those keen to make the most of new market opportunities could be in for a very interesting few years.