Following Donald Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s election, members of the crypto community are celebrating renewed hope for their ETF ambitions. The change in political direction is seen as a potential turning point for the approval of altcoin-focused cryptocurrency ETFs such as Solana, XRP and Litecoin.
Solana Gains Ground in Race for ETF Approval
Unlike the Biden administration, which approached digital assets with continued enforcement measures and a hostile regulatory environment, President-elect Trump has embraced the industry with key promises to stimulate the growth of the nascent financial sector.
Trump’s pro-crypto stance encouraged Wall Street to move forward with ETF Requests which previously seemed unlikely to succeed. As the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) receives numerous requests for funds tracking XRP, Solana and Litecoin, a palpable sense of optimism is in the air.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, note that “these altcoin ETFs would be pretty much dead on arrival if Harris won, but with Trump they at least have a fighting chance.” Although he emphasizes that success is not guaranteed, regulatory hurdles seem less daunting under the new administration.
The cryptocurrency market has been boosted by the recent approval of ETFs holding Bitcoin and Ethereum, which have attracted significant investors. investment– over $24 billion in net inflows to Bitcoin alone.
This momentum is expected to extend to altcoins, particularly Solana, which has attracted considerable institutional interest due to its competitive positioning against Ethereum.
Noelle Acheson, author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” newsletter, believes Solana ETFs are most likely to be approved, citing the token’s strong performance and clearer narrative. In contrast, XRP faces challenges as many investors find its use case less well understood.
Trump election spurs crypto market rally
Bitcoin, often seen as a “Trump trade,” hit new highs above $76,000 on Thursday, reflecting optimism surrounding the potential for a positive move. regulatory environment.
Bernstein analysts predict that regulatory changes under the Trump administration could propel the price of Bitcoin to $200,000 by the end of 2025.
During his campaign, Trump moved from skepticism to full support for cryptocurrencies, promising to replace SEC Chairman Gary Gensler with regulators more friendly to digital assets.
However, it remains unclear how much influence Trump might actually have over the SEC, an independent regulator. Stéphane Ouellette, co-founder and CEO of FRNT Financial, underlines that while the SEC might take a more crypto-friendly approach, its bureaucratic nature makes outcomes difficult to predict.
Gensler’s early departure has already sparked a rally in cryptocurrencies previously classified as “unregistered securities.” Tokens like Uniswap (UNI) and Polygon (POL) saw price increases of 38% and 20%, respectively, in the days following the election results, outpacing Bitcoin’s 14% rise.
THE election results have also had a positive impact on ETH, which is up 21% since the election. Investors are hoping for a more favorable regulatory environment that could lead to greater acceptance and success for Ether ETFs, which have not enjoyed the same level of enthusiasm as Bitcoin ETFs.
However, uncertainty over whether stake returns are classified as commodities or securities complicates the development of Ether ETFs.
Jesper Johansen, CEO of Ethereum staking platform Northstake, highlighted that $6 billion of Ether ETFs are currently unstaked, representing a significant missed opportunity for investors.
At the time of writing, Solana, which is now the fourth largest cryptocurrency on the market after overtaking Binance Coin (BNB) in terms of market capitalization earlier this week, is trading at $196, up by 15% on the week.
Featured image of DALL-E, chart by TradingView.com
