Bitwise: Cryptocurrency has already won, and no matter who is in Washington, there is nothing that can stop it

There is not much left to say about the November 5 election.

In case you missed my previous review, here are my predictions:

• In the short term, a Trump victory is better than a Harris victory.

• In the long run, no matter who wins, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins will thrive.

• Altcoins face greater regulatory risk under a Harris administration than under a Trump administration.

The only “bad” outcome for cryptocurrencies is a Democratic sweep, as that would embolden those fringe elements within the party that are openly against cryptocurrencies.

But even in this case, I would buy on the dip.

Because if the past four years have taught me anything, it’s this: Washington can’t stop cryptocurrency. It can change its trajectory. It can speed it up or slow it down. It can bring more confusion or new clarity.

But it can't stop it.

The State of Cryptocurrency: November 2020 Vs November 2024

One of the things I love about presidential elections is that it gives you a chance to reflect on what happened over the past four years.

Is the situation better or worse than the last vote in 2020?

When you do that in the cryptocurrency space, the results are overwhelming. Despite a hostile regulatory environment—think Operation Chokehold 2.0, countless SEC lawsuits, and a plethora of conflicting or ambiguous statements—the progress we’ve made is astounding.

Pick any stat you want, and it's the same.

Cryptocurrency Progress: 2020 vs. 2024

Sources: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana price data from Bitwise Asset Management as of November 2, 2020 and November 2, 2024. CME Bitcoin futures open interest, DEX volume, and monthly volume (Bitcoin network) from The Block, using full month values ​​for October 2020 and October 2024. Crypto daily volume (7DMA) from The Block as of November 6, 2020 and November 3, 2024. Bitcoin spot ETF AUM and stablecoin AUM from The Block as of November 2, 2020 and November 2, 2024. DeFi TVL from The Block as of November 4, 2020 and November 2, 2024. Monthly volume (Ethereum + Layer 2) from The Block and GrowThePie as of October 2020 and October 2024. RWA.XYZ is a top 20 asset manager with tokenized funds as of 11/2/2024. All other data as of 11/4/24 is from Bitwise Asset Management.

In the cryptocurrency space, we focus so much on immediate price movements that we often lose sight of long-term trends. The presidential election provides a good opportunity to look back and see how far we’ve come.

Will these trends continue?

When you look at the above statistics, you should ask yourself one question: Is this trend going to continue? In my opinion, the answer is yes.

Our view is that no matter who wins on Election Day, November 5:

• Spot Crypto ETF Inflows Will Continue

• Stablecoins will continue to grow rapidly

• Institutions will continue to “leave zero interest rates” and increase their allocation to cryptocurrencies

• Wall Street will continue to embrace tokenization and real-world assets

• Blockchain will become faster and cheaper

• Real-world applications like Polymarket will continue to break through and gain mainstream adoption

Make no mistake: The outcome of the November 5 election is important, especially in the short term. But in the long term, the outcome of November 5 will be somewhere between a speed bump and a strong wind, in my opinion.

Neither can stop this train.