As the 2024 Presidential Election heats up to a frenetic close, crypto’s headline-grabbing presence has somewhat overshadowed the growing influence and preparing of crypto investors and lobbyists and their funding on the next Congress.
Having spent over $160 million thus far during this election cycle, crypto investors and policymakers should expect a bipartisan influx of crypto-friendly lawmakers in both chambers.
Candidates set to take House seats will, in many instances, add to a pro-crypto voting bloc, putting critical support behind an industry that has been chiefly on defense under the Biden Administration and SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
Crypto Investors Bet on Trump Win, Brace for Bitcoin Volatility
Crypto investors have piled into funds tracking Bitcoin in bets on a Republican Donald Trump comeback to the White House while also preparing for wild swings in the world’s biggest cryptocurrency during election week, data shows.
According to reports, ETFs that track the spot price of Bitcoin recorded net inflows of $917.2 million on Wednesday, the highest one-day rise since March.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF attracted $872 million in net flow, the highest one-day total since its launching in January-to head into the status of the most prominent spot Bitcoin fund by assets under management. It recorded an inflow of $2.2 billion this past week and, therefore, successfully outranked 13,227 counterparts all over the world. Bitcoin jumped 13.6% in October as speculation for Trump’s re-election bid as a pro-crypto candidate began to set in.
“Growing prospects for a Republican sweep have created optimism for crypto-friendly legislation in Congress after the election,” said analysts at Ryze Labs.
While polls suggest the race is tight between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, betting markets such as Polymarket give far higher odds of Trump winning. For that reason, such uncertainty and future markets are bracing for a wild election week. According to forward-implied volatility data from crypto derivatives exchange Deribit, Bitcoin could see daily price swings of about 3.7% in either direction through November 8.
Crypto Community Eyes Influence in 2024 Election Amid Regulatory Battle
The crypto community, encompassing a range of startups and venture capitalists, remains in a standoff with the federal government over crypto’s classification as an asset and which regulatory agency—the SEC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission—should oversee it.
In 2024, crypto advocates have ramped up their political influence, with nearly half of all corporate donations to federal election campaigns coming from crypto supporters. According to advocacy group Public Citizen, crypto companies and prominent crypto investors have injected over $119 million directly into the federal races this year.
While Trump has actively appealed to crypto enthusiasts, even launching his own crypto initiative, Harris has taken a more neutral stance on the industry. The Biden administration, particularly under SEC Chair Gary Gensler, has maintained a strict regulatory stance that many in the crypto space see as unfavorable.
Meanwhile, Harris appears open to engaging the crypto community. Reports show that Chris Larsen, Ripple’s co-founder and chairman, has contributed more than $11.8 million to PACs supporting her campaign. For many in the industry, the pressing question centers on who will replace Gensler as a regulatory figure. Larsen and another RIpple exec Brad Garlinghouse would really appreciate that outcome. Recently they have hired key attorneys to dismiss claims again in the XRP-SEC lawsuit.
Kalshi Targets Crypto Traders as Election Betting Surges, Launches USDC Deposits
Kalshi is courting crypto investors and traders as interest in political betting on the US election reaches new levels, according to its CEO. The prediction market platform began accepting deposits in USDC stablecoin on Monday, allowing US-based traders to bet on the outcome of presidential and congressional races.
That update sent significant volumes to Kalshi, positioning the startup as a challenger to the crypto-native prediction market Polymarket.
Within 36 hours of opening USDC deposits, more than $20 million flowed in from close to 21,000 users-its biggest-ever in-flow within such a short span, according to Jack Such, Head of Market Research. Retail deposits were firing on all cylinders at the firm, but it also witnessed an uptick from institutional players and crypto investors, including TradFi brokerages offering crypto services.
That is not all about the crypto integration by Kalshi, as the partnership for USDC deposits with Zero Hash was only the beginning. Kalshi has just announced a new collaboration with the decentralized data marketplace Stork for taking its prediction market data on-chain.
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