The election of Donald Trump is making news. Many within in the cryptocurrency community felt the President is going to have an impact upon what takes place with crypto.
To me, this never made sense. Governments cannot destroy crypto. They can hinder it, slow some of the progress, and basically be a pain in the ass but stopping it was not on the agenda.
Overlooked in much of the crypto discussion, at least for those in the United States, was the Republican win in the Senate. This could have a massive implication for one reason:
Elizabeth Warren
The End of Operation Choke Point 2.0
Trump made a lot of promises on the campaign trail and that is exactly what they are: promises. Time will tell what he implements. Like most candidates, a lot of what is offered is not even within the President's power since Congress is required.
That said, we can deal in some facts.
Operation Choke Point 2.0 is a move by the Biden Administration and anti-crypto people like Elizabeth Warren to choke off crypto. The general idea here is to cut off access to the banking system.
As you can imagine, it is difficult to operate without a bank account. Hence, the goal is to put pressure on the banks to close accounts relating to crypto. This could be for both business or individuals.
This is 2.0 because we saw the first go-around used by the Obama administration against companies in industries such as online gambling or cannabis.
Biden's team adopted this for crypto.
The Demotion of Elizabeth Warren
Warren is not going away. She easily won re-election for another 6 year term. Hence, she will be a US Senator in the next Congress.
What she will not be is the head of the Senate Banking Committee. This will switch to Tim Scott.
Trump's initiatives in this area could help but this change is something we can immediately view as moving things forward.
This will further make it easy for the Trump administration to implement all the pro-crypto policies promised by Donald Trump in his election campaign. Scott will replace Senator Warren in this influential role, paving the way for potential investigations into “Operation Chokepoint 2.0”.
Elizabeth Warren has gained fame for leading Operation Chokepoint which aims at restricting access to banking for the crypto industry. Popular crypto-friendly banks like customers Bank and Silvergate Bank have been the victims of Operation Choke Point 2.0. Although Senator Warren won against John Deaton, her victory this time will be less impactful on the crypto space.
Does this mean that Tim Scott has to change things? Not at all. He could continue to push the same agenda but it is not likely, especially if the White House is supporting crypto.
The Time To Build
US politics means that, once a new Congress is in place and the President takes the Oval Office, we have two years before anything changes. There is nothing that says the Senate cannot flip in the midterms, reversing this situation.
What we have is a two-year window. This means that building, within the industry, should kick into an even higher gear.
My belief is that the further along the industry gets, the more resilient it becomes. Government approval is not required. Instead, just get out of the way.
Will Washington do this? We will find out in 2025.
Cryptocurrency can take a lesson from gambling. This was an out-of-favor industry, targeted in a similar manner. It is now to the point where people are gambling on the result of the US elections.
We also see it advertised heavily during sporting events. In other words, it is mainstream.
Crypto needs to position itself in a similar manner. Here is where I differ from most, not viewing the path as focusing upon the financial aspect. This is what got the backs up in Washington.
Instead, build out the technology, integrating it into as much as possible. This is how it becomes even more resilient. If we have it incorporated in platforms, like video, it will be everywhere.
That is the thing to keep in mind with online technology: no matter what governments think, it becomes a numbers game.
Billions of AI agents using crypto on the Internet are impossible to stop.