Binance’s chief executive hailed US President Donald Trump’s victory as the beginning of a “golden era”, as confidence in the crypto industry grows that the election result marks a turning point in acceptance in the US.
Richard Teng told the Financial Times that Trump’s success would be a “huge victory for cryptocurrencies” and usher in an influx of new US regulators open to digital currencies.
Bullish executives anticipate a fundamental shift in policy in Washington, welcoming the end of a Democratic administration seen as more openly hostile to cryptocurrencies. Last year, Binance was fined $4.3 billion and its former president was jailed for anti-money laundering and sanctions violations.
A year ago, the crypto industry targeted the election as a major opportunity to change attitudes in Washington, which they perceived as stifling innovation and trying to keep business out of the United States. This week, that belief and plan was proven correct, including raising $170 million to spend on political campaigns this year.
Bitcoin rose nearly 10% to hit an all-time high of more than $76,000. A record $1.4 billion flowed into U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds that invest directly in the cryptocurrency on Thursday, according to Bloomberg data. “America will be on the path to economic freedom,” said Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
Investors are hoping Trump will set an agenda that will increase interest from major U.S. institutions that have so far been on the sidelines.
Shervin Pishevar, a venture capitalist close to Elon Musk, one of Trump and the president-elect’s biggest backers, said the U.S. is “now on the brink of smart crypto policy.” .
During his campaign, Trump touted the benefits of Bitcoin to the U.S. economy, supported the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and even promoted a new cryptocurrency venture backed by his sons.
Many of his inner circle are also supporters of cryptocurrencies. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance owns cryptocurrencies, and Trump transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick heads Cantor Fitzgerald, an investment firm whose assets include stablecoin giant Tether. I’m there.
Despite supporting Kamala Harris’ campaign, Trump’s victory marked an “incredibly important day for the crypto industry,” said Mike Novogratz, the billionaire founder of crypto group Galaxy. he said.
“We’re in the beginning stages of what I think is the 52nd week now. . . . We’ll bring you one piece of good news every week,” he added.
But the cryptocurrency industry also planned ahead. Efforts to build consensus on clear crypto laws in Washington have begun under the Democratic administration as the European Union, Singapore and other countries pass their first rules on digital assets.
He spent a lot of money on influencing other political races to secure a more friendly audience in Washington, and appears to have succeeded.
A year ago, leading companies including Coinbase, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and payments group Ripple Labs targeted anti-crypto politicians in their political campaigns, even though few of their ads mentioned digital assets. Supported the committee Fairshake. With a $170 million war chest, the company became one of the largest corporate “superpacks.”
The $135 million in spending the company claimed this week included influential Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. Coinbase lobby group Stand With Crypto estimates that there are currently 284 pro-crypto politicians in Congress, compared to 132 opponents. FairShake says it has already raised $78 million for the 2026 midterm elections.
“Cryptocurrency is emerging as a powerful political force, and one that will deter injustice from occurring,” said Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, an industry group. “This is a very important moment. We have turned a corner,” she added.
However, the cryptocurrency industry’s biggest ambition is to change the policies of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Commissioner Gary Gensler is on an all-out offensive.
Some of the biggest companies in the industry have been hit by lawsuits, including Binance, Coinbase, Ripple, and trading group Cumberland DRW. In the absence of clear rules from Congress, the SEC has relied on interpretations of existing securities laws and historical precedent. Cryptocurrency exchange executives have complained that it is impossible to not only follow the agency’s guidance but abide by its rules.
But they added that the SEC’s approach of limited interaction with targets before filing suit made matters worse. At a Bitcoin conference in July, the audience erupted when President Trump announced on the first day that he would fire Gensler.
“If you could replace Gary Gensler with just about anyone on the planet, you’d be better off,” said Alex Bloom, founder of crypto investment advisor Two Prime.
Because the SEC is an independent agency, President Trump may find it legally difficult to fire Gensler, whose term ends in July 2026. Still, Bill Hughes, a senior adviser at ConsenSys, which has been hit with lawsuits this summer, hopes to see a “forced moratorium” on outstanding litigation. “Correcting the many wrongs of previous leadership is the SEC’s first and most important task regarding crypto assets,” he said.
Amy Lynch, president of Frontline Compliance and a former SEC examiner, said the Trump administration is likely to seek to make the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rather than the SEC, the primary market regulator. “I think that will happen and that there will be less regulation regarding the crypto asset market.”
He added, “Going forward, it will be a ‘risk-on environment,’ and there is a possibility that large-scale fraud cases will occur,” predicting that the number of enforcement cases will decrease and settlements will speed up.
High on the industry’s wish list is regulatory reform of how banks handle digital assets held on behalf of their customers.
In 2022, the SEC quietly pushed out a dry accounting rule stating that institutions that hold digital tokens on behalf of their customers must treat them as debt on their balance sheets. Assets in custody are typically accounted for as off-balance sheet items. Congress passed the repeal over the summer, but President Biden vetoed it.
With Congress teetering on the brink of complete Republican control, crypto industry executives are now hoping to get the numbers to scrap the rules and let big banks and fund managers into the market.
“Bringing BNY and State Street on board as administrators… would create a tsunami of institutional participation,” Novogratz said.
Some promises are difficult to keep. Standard Chartered analyst Jeff Kendrick called the creation of a Bitcoin Reserve Fund an “unlikely event.”
Bloom was careful to point out that the success of the Trump family’s crypto projects has been slow, with only 5 percent of the available tokens sold to date.
But he added, “Candidates make a lot of promises when they run for office. I hope (Trump) intends to deliver on those promises.”
Additional reporting by Oliver Barnes
