KEY POINTS
- Kendrick said he believes a Trump government will 'actively' support BTC through looser regulations
- Trump told NFT owners Wednesday that he will stop the hostility toward digital assets
- Standard previously increased their year-end 2024 Bitcoin price prediction to $150,000
Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap that has struggled to climb near its all-time high of $73,000 in March, may find a second Donald Trump presidency beneficial, a digital assets expert recently said.
Geoffrey Kendrick, a digital assets analyst at investment banking giant Standard Chartered, said in note this week that he believes if the business mogul secures a second term, it will have a positive effect on Bitcoin, since his government is likely to be stringent toward cryptocurrencies compared to another Biden administration, as per the note seen by Forbes.
"We would expect a second Trump administration to be actively supportive of BTC (and digital assets more broadly) via a looser regulation and the approval of U.S. spot ETFs (exchange-traded funds)," he wrote.
In March, Kendrick and other Standard analysts hiked their BTC price prediction from $100,000 to $150,000 by the end of the year, citing the "sharper-than-expected price gains year-to-date." The analysts said at the time that if spot BTC ETF inflows hit the bank's mid-point estimate of $75 billion, there is a strong chance the world's first decentralized digital asset will reach $250,000 sometime in 2025.
Interestingly, Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, told non-fungible token (NFT) owners Wednesday during an event he hosted at his Mar-a-Lago estate, that he will block the hostile approach of regulators toward cryptocurrencies.
He said that if the country wants to embrace crypto-related business, such operations should be kept within the United States. His statement came after an attendee lamented how crypto business owners were moving operations outside the U.S. amid stringent regulations.
He clarified that he does want to make sure the crypto industry is "good and solid" but otherwise, he is "fine with it." He also urged voters who "like crypto in any form" to choose him during the election later this year.
The business mogul wasn't always so soft toward digital assets. He previously said that Bitcoin seemed like a "scam." However, he has been warming up to the digital currency in recent years, even calling it "an additional form of currency."
For Brock Pierce, the chairman of the Bitcoin advocacy organization Bitcoin Foundation, the business magnate now recognizes that BTC is being embraced by the American public. "Donald Trump's statement is clear. He recognizes the importance of the U.S. dollar and its world reserve status, but he's also seen that over 52 million Americans now hold digital assets. They're single-issue voters," he told International Business Times earlier this year.
The Biden administration, on the other hand, has been criticized for its enforcement approach toward crypto regulation. Just this week, President Joe Biden's office said the president will veto a resolution passed by the House that revokes a controversial U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) bulletin that states crypto custodial firms should hold their customers' assets in their balance sheets.
