- Bitcoin price showed little movement as the first exit polls dropped in the US.
- Analysts still expect an year-end rally for Bitcoin.
- Can the cryptocurrency set a new price peak this year?
Bitcoin price hardly wavered on the back of exit polls suggesting that issues surrounding US democracy and the economy was foremost among voters.
Exit polls survey early voting patterns among the electorate to predict an election’s outcome. They are not always accurate and have a high margin of error.
The exit polls showed Americans who cast their ballot in the election identified democracy and economy as their biggest concerns in what is tipped to be a tight race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Bitcoin showed some movement before the exit polls were released, temporarily slipping below $69,000. But it has since regained that price level on the cusp of initial election results from so-called swing states in the US South.
Bitcoin proponents have reasons to be cautious about a Harris presidency despite her attempts to gain favour with the crypto industry by promising a reset of the Biden Administration’s approach to crypto regulations.
Harris wasn’t as vocal as Trump on crypto since she took over as Democratic candidate from President Joe Biden in August, but campaign officials reportedly made overtures to crypto bigwigs from Ripple, Circle, and Coinbase.
Allies such as billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban and SkyBridge founder and former Trump White House staffer Anthony Scaramucci also presented her as an innovation-friendly candidate.
Harris has promised to support a new era for American industry in areas including artificial intelligence and digital assets. She also shoe-horned crypto in a puzzling campaign message targeted at Black men.
However, her attempts to court the crypto industry were rebuffed as “hollow words” by critical industry participants who suspected her to continue the former administration’s crypto crackdown.
Meanwhile, there are more reasons for optimism about a Trump presidency for Bitcoin proponents.
Trump campaigned on the pro-crypto platform. His many crypto promises included pledges to dismiss Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and create a strategic national Bitcoin reserve.
Trump’s aggressive courting of crypto voters also caused market analysts to designate Bitcoin as a so-called “Trump trade” — suggesting that the cryptocurrency would rally on the back of him recapturing the White House.
What’s next for Bitcoin
A wave of market watchers shared their expectations on what would happen following a potential win for either candidate.
This week, analysts at Bernstein, a research and brokerage firm, projected that Bitcoin would drop as low as $50,000 by the end of the year following a Harris win.
However, a Trump victory would boost Bitcoin’s price to reach $90,000, the analysts noted.
In the long run, they were more bullish and said Bitcoin will reach $200,000 in 2025, no matter who was in the Oval Office.
“The Bitcoin genie is out of the bottle, and it is hard to reverse this course,” Bernstein analysts wrote.
An analyst at UK bank Standard Chartered offered a more optimistic outlook, predicting Bitcoin could reach $75,000 this year if Harris wins
Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. To share tips or information about stories, please contact him at osato@dlnews.com.
