Many in the crypto industry see President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 United States elections as a watershed moment, largely thanks to the myriad promises Trump made on the campaign trail.
Still, some members of the US crypto community took other factors into account.
Margaret Rosenfeld, chief legal officer at fintech platform Tilt, told Cointelegraph that not all crypto enthusiasts were single-issue voters. Rosenfeld said that some individuals found it difficult to reconcile their support for crypto with Trump’s other controversial positions.
“We clearly saw some clashes at the extremes, where differences in political ideology led to intense debates, sometimes leading to personal attacks coming from both angles,” she said.
Most apparent were arguments that arose on social media platforms such as X during the election cycle.
For instance, several social media influencers tweeted about how the Democratic Party lost the election due to an “anti-crypto” policy. Many of these tweets sparked angry responses from Democrats who support crypto.
Source: Ryan Sean Adams
Social media posts sharing the “Crypto for Harris” campaign also proved controversial. Trump supporters made some negative comments on these posts, demonstrating an ongoing division between Republican and Democratic members of the crypto community.
Source: Dennis Porter
Although social media arguments broke out, Rosenfeld said there was mutual respect overall.
“Most people in the crypto industry understood that voting is a deeply personal decision and respected differing views,” she said. “This helped maintain a level of cohesion within the crypto community, despite varying political perspectives.”
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Crypto community members offended by differing viewpoints on X during this last election cycle may have transitioned to Bluesky. The social media platform has surged in popularity since the election.
Crypto should be bipartisan
While many crypto community members are excited about the rising price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies following Trump’s victory, most industry observers agree that crypto should remain bipartisan.
Source: Lara Shin
Konstantin Richter, CEO of Blockdaemon, told Cointelegraph, “Crypto is for everyone. It empowers every human to be heard and counted. Unfortunately, crypto was heavily politicized by the current administration.”
Richter remains optimistic about the future of crypto adoption in the US, saying, “I hope that we will see clear regulations and guidelines emerge in this upcoming administration.”
Natalie Smolenski, founder of The Texas Bitcoin Foundation, told Cointelegraph that Bitcoin pumping demonstrates investor confidence in Trump. She claimed that this often happens when Republican candidates are elected.
“It still remains to be seen how much of this will be backed by policy,” Smolenski said. “I’m hopeful and optimistic, and I think there are voices in the administration who are giving wise council.”
Smolenski added that there is “nothing partisan about sound money or peer-to-peer transactions.”
Political candidates may want to re-consider crypto policies
Bitcoin was heavily politicized this election cycle. Yet some industry experts say there are other lessons to be learned.
Dennis Porter, CEO and co-founder of The Satoshi Action Fund, told Cointelegraph that the biggest takeaway from this election cycle was that other policymakers might want to start showing support for digital assets. He said:
“A number of elected officials lost this race due to their opposition to Bitcoin. This will send shivers down the spines of other candidates, which is why politicians need to be cautious with their positions.”
Echoing this, former speaker of the US House of Representatives Paul Ryan said in a keynote speech at the North American Blockchain Summit on Nov. 21 that Democrats were on the wrong side when it came to issues regarding digital assets. He said:
“The question for the Democrats is a hard one to answer because the core of their policy is an ideology. It’s aggressiveism that did a few things — They picked cultural stances that are not where most of the country stands and then they picked economic policies that were not good.”
While that may be, Smolenski said there has been a danger of politicizing Bitcoin since the asset’s inception.
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“I understand that people may want to use political parties when it comes to these issues, but this is always a decisive strategy that can have unforeseen consequences. You can make enemies that could have been your allies,” she said.