2024 Election Review: The Rise of Crypto in Politics, Initial Market Reactions, and the Success of Prediction Markets
Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States.
While the media will analyze every aspect of Tuesday’s result and the coming Trump Presidency, Messari is focused on the election’s impact on crypto markets and the industry more broadly.
Crypto’s Role in the 2024 Election
Crypto became a salient policy issue late in the election cycle. Industry advocacy groups spent much of the prior two years quietly building influence in Washington and raising funds for pro-crypto interests in the 2024 elections. Around half of campaign donations this cycle are estimated to have come from crypto-focused groups.
The watershed moment for crypto policy occured at an NFT event hosted by Trump at Mar-a-Lago on May 8th, 2024. At this event, Trump stated, "If crypto is moving out of the U.S. because of hostility toward crypto... well, we’ll stop it. We don’t want that,” inviting crypto industry leaders on stage, including Polygon Founder Mihailo Bjelic and Messari founder Ryan Selkis.
From there, Trump quickly adopted a favorable stance toward the industry, meeting with industry leaders and promoting crypto. By late July, Trump took the main stage at Bitcoin Nashville, making the following promises at the conference and over the course of his campaign:
Dylan is a Sr. Enterprise Research Analyst focusing on DePIN, DeFi, AI, and RWAs. He previously worked as a digital assets investment analyst at T. Rowe Price and in venture capital. Dylan is a graduate of Princeton University and co-founded the Princeton Blockchain Club.
Prior to joining Messari, Andrew was an equity trader at a proprietary trading firm. His primary interests are understanding market dynamics, riding trends, and finding the occasional onchain winner.