- Bitwise CIO, Matt Hougan, says regardless of who wins today’s US election crypto will continue to thrive.
- Hougan says a Trump win would probably be better in the short-term but adds that even a Democrat clean sweep of the Whitehouse, congress and senate wouldn’t be too bad, saying he’d buy the dip should that happen.
- Longer-term, Hougan says crypto can’t be stopped by Washington or anyone else, predicting continued and accelerating growth and mainstream adoption over the next few years.
Matt Hougan, the chief investment officer (CIO) at crypto-focussed asset manager Bitwise, has said that regardless of the result of today’s US election crypto is going to continue to thrive.
In a blog post published on the Bitwise website on election day, Hougan mused that despite a relatively crypto-hostile administration and a regulator who seemed to be hell-bent on destroying the industry, crypto is in a significantly better place than it was at the time of the 2020 election.
According to Hougan, no matter who wins the 2024 election, the political and regulatory environment is likely to be much friendlier going forward, allowing the industry to further establish itself.
Make no mistake: What happens in Tuesday’s election matters, particularly in the short term. But as I see it, over the long term Tuesday will prove to be something between a speed bump and a wind gust. Neither is going to stop this train.
Matt Hougan, Bitwise chief investment officerIn the short term Hougan said a Trump victory would likely be better for crypto price action. But the only meaningful long-term difference Hougan foresees is perhaps a tougher regulatory environment for altcoins under a Harris administration.
Related: Bitcoin Could Hit $200K by Tapping Into Gold’s Market, Says Bitwise’s Hougan
Hougan: Washington Can’t Stop Crypto
To get a sense of the longer term trends in crypto at the moment, Hougan took a look back at the state of the crypto industry at the 2020 election, and what he found was pretty impressive.
On a range of metrics — including price, volume, AUM, network activity and adoption — Hougan found crypto is in a much better position than it was at the last election, and this growth happened under a relatively hostile political and regulatory environment:
He expects the regulatory landscape for crypto to improve regardless of how the election goes, which would likely supercharge growth in the industry.
However, Hougan does say that a clean sweep of the Whitehouse, congress and senate by the Democrats could pose some problems, suggesting it would “embolden the fringe element of the Democratic Party that is overtly hostile to crypto”, although he quickly added that “even in that scenario, I’d buy the dip”.
Based on the past four years of growth, Hougan believes there’s nothing politicians can now do to prevent the continued success and eventual mainstream adoption of crypto:
If there’s one thing the past four years has taught me, it’s this: Washington can’t stop crypto. It can alter the trajectory. It can speed things up or slow things down. It can bring more confusion or new clarity. But it can’t stop it.
Matt Hougan, Bitwise chief investment officerRelated: Breaking: Bitwise Files for XRP ETF, Sources Confirm Authenticity
Bitwise Confident Trends Will Continue
Hougan said that he and Bitwise believe the positive trends of the past four years are set to continue, and likely accelerate. The Bitwise CIO pointed to several key trends he predicts to dominate crypto over the next few years, including:
- Spot crypto ETF inflows will continue.
- Stablecoins will continue to grow rapidly.
- Wall Street will continue to embrace tokenization and real-world assets.
- Blockchains will continue to get faster and cheaper.
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