So the amazing run-up we've seen in many different cryptocurrencies, but namely Bitcoin over the last few months, has been on hopes of a Trump administration that is more lenient when it comes to regulations. That's the hope. Now the administration has to deliver.

What do you want to see? Yeah, you're absolutely right. You know, we even saw it yesterday with Trump at the New York Stock Exchange. He mentioned that he wants the United States to be the number one leader in cryptocurrency in the world. That's a very different narrative than

what we've seen in the last four years. We've also seen the Trump administration focus on this $150,000 Bitcoin price. And so we've seen, you know, markets respond to that. We've seen a lot of option call buyers with March 2025 expirations. And so really a lot of people, as you

mentioned, are kind of basing their expectation on a much more favorable administration. Now, that can have many subsets. We see Paul Atkins coming in as the SEC chairman and commissioner, and that is going to be very positive for centralized crypto companies.

We still need to see what that means for decentralized finance as well, especially as it pertains to KYC and sanctions. But overall, it really does mean that the narrative is front and center, and you're seeing the momentum in ETF inflows.

Does it seem like it could become the Wild West to you? We're very much hoping that we're actually going to get very clear guidelines, and I think that's one of the main pieces of also having a role

Within the White House, there's a focus on crypto.  David Sachs will be spearheading much of that.  What we're looking for is rules and regulations. He's invested in many of these companies.

Do you see a conflict of interest? He's invested in many of these companies, yet he'll advise the White House on creating rules around this?

That could be said of several administration advisors. However, everything still needs Congressional and state-level approval.

Many states are jumping in. Texas recently announced its intention to make Bitcoin a reserve currency. The US has also discussed it.

Several states are planning to do so.  I think the checks and balances at the state and federal levels will be significant, and we're eager to see how it plays out.

Andreessen Horowitz is a crypto policy lead. Brian Quinto is a top contender to lead the CFTC under President-elect Trump. What role do you see him playing in shaping crypto policy?

He's been pretty favorable in both what he said very publicly and also in the guidance he's given for many A16z companies. For example, Uniswap is one of the largest. That's a decentralized exchange platform.

It touches a number of users. And I think you'll see that many of these currencies will fall under the CFTC. The CFTC has given very clear guidelines, and so we're very excited to continue pushing in partnership with them. Are you concerned that there could be

clear winners and losers here, given that some venture capital firms have the president-elect's ear? Elon Musk has the president-elect's ear, but not everyone does. Are there going to be clear

winners and losers as a result of who has access? That's a very good question. And I think it still boils down to: what are the guidelines and rules? So if you pick, you know, a clear winner based on someone's relationship with a specific company or

their previous investments, it really depends on why. Is it a commodity? Is it a security?  We can then apply that guideline to many other winners as well. What happens if there is a meltdown akin to what we saw at the FTC

two years ago? In the coming years, if a large number of cryptocurrency holders get burned, maybe it's the result of a more lax regulatory environment. The whole idea with regulations is that they are supposed to be guardrails and

protect consumers. Does this whole thing backfire if consumers get burned? So my personal opinion, and I think that of the industry is that a lot of the things that happened with FTX were personal and people management issues and a lack of

operational back-end systems in order that you see both in traditional finance but also in centralized exchanges. That may be true, but it didn't happen in a vacuum. We saw the failure of a lot of crypto firms during that time and we saw the real depression of many crypto asset

prices. You can, I 100% agree. We also saw that in traditional finance with Archegos, for example, and that took down Credit Suisse. So it's not unique to crypto. These are still financial companies and they still require very clear guidelines

on operations, on people management, and on fund flows. And I think what we're going to get from this administration is exactly what that needs to look like in the United States. We can copy-paste that into these companies, and then we can, with that clear guideline,

That's the issue. Since we don't have clear guidelines, we don't really know how and where to operate. And that creates more confusion. Even with less regulation, as long as the guidelines are very clear, we can operate within those, hire the right

people, whether it's for compliance or, again, back-end operations and continue forward. What are you seeing on the August platform right now? Like what's the activity that you see that you can tell us about? Yes, our volumes have really spiked

tremendously. It's very, very exciting. You know, yields are spiking. And so we're seeing, for example, our clients get yields over 5% on Bitcoin and majors on basis. Right now we're seeing roughly 11% for majors, over 25% for some altcoins.

And then even for, for example, lending rates for stablecoins, the seven-day average is around 16%. So it's really attracting more capital on-chain. And we're excited to continue to see that.

Crypto's Continued Trump Momentum

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Bloomberg Technology

Positive Expectations for Crypto Under Trump Administration

Recent cryptocurrency price increases are fueled by hopes of less strict regulations under the Trump administration.

Trump's desire for the US to lead in cryptocurrency signifies a shift from previous administrations.

Market reactions are influenced by the discussed $150,000 Bitcoin price target and associated option purchases.

Paul Atkins' appointment as SEC chairman is seen positively for centralized crypto companies.

Increased ETF inflows reflect the positive narrative surrounding crypto under the new administration.

Concerns and Hopes Regarding Regulation and Policy

Desire for clear regulatory guidelines to avoid a Wild West scenario.

David Sachs' role in the White House, focusing on crypto, raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest due to his investments in crypto companies.

Congressional and state-level approvals are necessary for any crypto policy changes.

Multiple states, including Texas, are considering Bitcoin as a reserve currency.

Brian Quinto's potential role as CFTC leader and his influence on crypto policy are discussed.

Potential Winners and Losers in the New Regulatory Landscape

Concerns about potential favoritism towards certain firms due to their connections with the president-elect.

The importance of clear guidelines (commodity vs. security classification) to determine winners and losers.

Concerns about a potential market crash similar to the FTX collapse and the role of lax regulation.

The FTX collapse is attributed to management issues and operational shortcomings, not solely regulatory failures.

The need for clear guidelines on operations, people management, and fund flows for crypto firms, similar to traditional finance.

Current Market Activity and Future Outlook

The lack of clear guidelines creates confusion, hindering operations.

Significant increase in trading volume and yields on the August platform.

High yields on Bitcoin, major cryptocurrencies, and altcoins are attracting capital.

High lending rates for stablecoins further indicate increased on-chain activity.