- Crypto companies are bullish after a standout 2024.
- They expect Trump's easing of crypto regulation to boost the markets in 2025.
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Hi! Eric here.
The big takeaway from Coinbase, Robinhood, Kraken, and the company previously known as MicroStrategy lately?
“It’s the dawn of a new era for crypto,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said as he celebrated the crypto exchange’s 130% quarterly revenue spike that saw revenue more than double to $2.2 billion.
He has a point.
Since his re-election, Donald Trump has moved fast to fulfil his pledge to turn the US into the crypto capital of the planet.
He’s appointed a crypto czar, nominated pro-industry candidates for key positions, and fired off sweeping executive orders.
Sensing where the wind is blowing, lawmakers have proposed both new laws and state-backed strategic Bitcoin reserves, and have interrogated bank regulators about alleged debanking of crypto companies.
Elsewhere, Wall Street and fintechs are embracing crypto like never before, venture capitalists are returning, and exchange-traded fund issuers are flooding the Securities and Exchange Commission with new applications.
Despite the almost overwhelming bullishness from these events, retail investors seem a bit deflated.
Sentiment is a bit “meh,” as Noelle Acheson said. She identified a few culprits: PTSD left over from the 2022 crash, memecoin and Strategic Bitcoin Reserve distractions, and a lack of crypto innovation.
And Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan suggested that the industry lacks a clear new narrative, apart from memecoins, that can drive the market.
“It’s hard to tell yourself that you’re building a new and better world on the basis of Fartcoin or the Hawk Tuah token,” he noted.
Hougan added that he expected a catalyst to trigger the next pump at any time now.
That sentiment has been echoed across crypto companies’ earnings.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said the trading app will accelerate the rollout of new crypto offerings as more regulatory clarity kicks in.
Similarly, Strategy’s Chair Michael Saylor used his recent earnings to emphasise its “strategic core,” which has morphed from software to Bitcoin.
The question is, how much of this euphoria is already baked into crypto prices?
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Post of the Week
Ethereum keeps underperforming compared to its main rivals amid a brewing civil war. Buterin’s tweet this week did little to ease those worries.
ethereum so caught in a battle between nazis and commies that i'm starting to think its target demographic is world war 2 buffs
— david phelps (@divine_economy) February 13, 2025
