Joe Out. Kamala In? And Crypto 🤔
Democrats' chance to regain crypto vote now? What's Kamala Harris stand on crypto? Will Gary Gensler resign in 2025? $1.35B inflows in digital asset investment products last week. WazirX's 23M bounty.
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We often wonder where crypto will take us.
It’s the season of politics. US Presidential elections 2024.
Crypto is all over it. Like a rash.
Maybe not entirely true, but that’s how we feel.
Uncle Joe is out now. Officially.
Biden's exit marks the first time in over half a century that a sitting president has opted not to seek re-election.
Who’s the replacement then? Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor for the Democratic nomination.
There has been no official announcement about it. Not yet.
You know who is having a field day about this, right? Donald J. Trump.
Who else you thought, eh?
Hop over to Truth Social, if you want a riot of laughs.
What’s crypto got to do with all this?
For starters, it’s almost a fresh beginning for the Democrats.
Will they emerge from the shadows and trial by regulation image of Biden administration?
Jake Chervinsky chief legal officer at crypto venture capital firm Variant explains.
It's clear that crypto will play a major role in this election …
Recognising Biden's electoral weakness on crypto, Former President Trump has spent months aggressively courting voters with a promise to ‘end Joe Biden's war on crypto.’ His efforts have been a huge success, rallying many crypto voters and donors to the right.
A new Democratic nominee can flip the script and win back a meaningful number of crypto voters.
The Digital Chamber, Blockchain trade association has dashed a letter to Harris.
“There is a public perception that the party holds a negative viewpoint of digital assets, largely due to the Biden/Harris Administration's notably cautious and at times hostile approach to these transformative technologies … Your expected candidacy for President represents an opportunity to change that perception.”
Biden out, bull run in?
Singapore-based crypto research firm Presto.
“Biden’s withdrawal has opened up a possibility where, regardless of who sits in the White House, the US government embrace a more constructive stance towards the digital asset industry after November. Whether Harris or any other contenders will pursue such a path remains to be seen, but the optionality that hardly existed before is now there.”
Where does Kamala Harris stand on crypto?
Harris's views on cryptocurrency remain ambiguous.
She has never made official statements about digital currencies, blockchain technology, or non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Connections to the tech industry: Harris's background in San Francisco and her ties to the tech sector suggest a potential openness to innovation. You can’t read much into it though.
Financial disclosures and investments: Neither Harris nor her husband, Douglas Emhoff, holds any investments in cryptocurrencies. Instead, they have focused on Treasury bonds and emerging markets.
Implications for the crypto Market: With Trump actively promoting pro-crypto policies, Harris's silence may raise concerns among crypto advocates. Her stance could significantly impact both the Democratic Party's strategy and the broader market.
The real crypto winner this politics season?
Polymarket.
The decentralised prediction market on Ethereum blockchain.
If June was its best month ever, July has already topped it - check Dune analytics.
In May it clocked $63 million in volume, $112 million in June and July has already seen $210 million. In principle, more liquidity should yield better predictions.
The market thrives on bets on real events among traders. Nothing better than the mass appeal of national elections. All the noise and drama. Bettors are having a riot.
Block That Quote 🎙️
The Network State guy, Balaji
"A single point of truth is a single point of failure."
This ain’t some cryptic message. Not a prophecy.
It’s a reflection on the present through the prism of blockchain.
Crypto folks can be like that. That’s why we have Vitalik Buterin 👇
Will Gary Gensler Resign in 2025?
Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, predicts that Gary Gensler will likely resign as SEC Chair within the first two months of 2025.
““Despite SEC Chair Gensler’s term ending on June 5, 2026. He will most likely resign by January/February 2025. With Joe Biden dropping out of the US Presidential race, no credible candidate can seriously challenge Donald Trump. The November election appears to have been decided without a single vote. For Bitcoin, a pro-crypto administration will enter the White House.”
Market speculation: Thielen highlights potential bullish catalysts, including rumours of Trump announcing Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset at the upcoming Nashville Bitcoin conference.
He cautioned against taking profits or shorting Bitcoin before the announcement, as Bitcoin often rises after surpassing previous all-time highs.
In The Numbers 🔢
$1.35 Billion
Digital asset investment products inflows last week, according to CoinShares.
Total inflows over the past three weeks climb to $3.2 billion.
Bitcoin saw inflows of $1.27 billion.
Ethereum $45 million last week, and $103 million inflows so far in 2024.
900k
Bitcoin held by US-listed Bitcoin ETFs. That’s 4.3% of the total BTC supply.
The assets are about $60 billion. Since its launch in January, the net inflow of funds has been $17 billion.
Combined crypto ETFs next?
Read: Ethereum ETFs: All You Need To Know 🛎️
$23M Bounty Program For Recovery
Indian crypto exchange WazirX got hacked for $235 million on July 18.
Hack linked to the to North Korea’s Lazarus group. One of the trickiest one to solve.
So what does WazirX do? Suspended platform operations, filed a police report, notified authorities and now launched a white hat recovery bounty for the stolen funds.
Thy offered $10 million first, only to bump it to $23 million - 10% of the hacked amount.
Co-founder Nischal Shetty clarified that the attack was not a result of phishing but involved multiple security failures, and urged the community to come together.
“The world has more good people than bad and I genuinely believe that if the entire global community comes together, we can find the perpetrators and recover the stolen funds. We've all been working on growing the Web3 ecosystem and we cannot give up at this time. We've been attacked but we have to get back up and fight.”
Read: How India's WazirX Got Hacked 🏴☠️
The Surfer 🏄
German government missed out on $124M in potential Bitcoin gains by selling 50,000 BTC too soon, as price jumped 16.55% after sale on July 13 due to rising demand from ETFs and funds.
India is expected to maintain its 1% tax-deducted-at-source (TDS) on crypto transactions in the 2024-2025 budget, despite calls from the Bharat Web3 Association to reduce it to 0.01%.
Hong Kong will launch Asia's first inverse Bitcoin ETF, CSOP Bitcoin Futures Daily (-1x) (7376.HK), on July 23 for investors to profit from BTC price declines. Product tracks the inverse daily performance of the S&P Bitcoin Futures Index.
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