This is part of the Lightspeed newsletter. To read the full editions, Subscribe.
Donald Trump begins his second term as President of the United States on Monday, and after an expensive campaign season, cryptocurrencies will finally have their own president.
Bitcoin gained momentum after Trump's victory, largely due to his pledge to create a strategic reserve of Bitcoin that would be under the supervision of the US Treasury Department. Accumulate Nearly 5% of all Bitcoin. But industry participants say a Trump in office may still reap the benefits of fewer reserve assets and a more use-case-focused network at Solana.
SOL stock rose 19% in the week leading up to Trump's inauguration. The asset rose 5% immediately after the New York Post release I mentioned The incoming president is “receptive to the idea” of a second strategic cryptocurrency reserve of US-established tokens such as SOL, XRP and USDC.
At this point, listen up: I'm open to the idea of playing in the NBA, but that doesn't mean you'll see me wearing Knicks gear this weekend. I think Paradigm's Vice President, Alexander Gref, had a clear vision for an America-first crypto reserve.
“View such stories with skepticism until they come from (Trump) or his staff,” Greif wrote in a post on X yesterday. "He wondered why such details would be in the press in the first place - (and) who might have put them there."
However, there were other reports on the Trump and cryptocurrency front that seemed more plausible this week. Reuters I mentioned Under President Trump, the SEC will “freeze” cryptocurrency lawsuits that do not come with allegations of fraud.
The SEC sued Coinbase and Binance in 2023, alleging that the cryptocurrency exchanges acted as unregistered brokers and dealers to facilitate the trading of SOL, among other tokens.
In defining SOLs as securities, Gary Gensler's SEC essentially said that US companies exchanging the token are violating the law. This is because it has only granted two special purpose broker-dealer licenses, and none of those recipients have offered an SOL. The Securities and Exchange Commission already Solana's allegations were dropped From Binance's lawsuit, but if the Coinbase app is also frozen, a major potential hurdle to the network's adoption will be removed.
With Solana's non-registered security issues seemingly resolved, some are already eyeing SOL ETFs that will see Solana's regulated investment vehicles traded on public exchanges. Polymarket bettors are giving SOL ETFs a 75% chance of approval in 2025, though Sol Strategies CEO Leah Wald said she doesn't expect Solana ETFs to be approved "anytime soon" in The last interview With Kathryn Ross from Blockworks.
It could also be argued that there is an intangible benefit to Solana under a Trump presidency and a friendlier regulatory regime.
When SOL's regulatory status was uncertain, developers largely focused on facilitating memecoin trading, which was "an effective form of protest" against the lack of regulatory clarity coming from the SOL, said Titus Kapelnin, vice president of go-to-market at Civic Technologies. Securities and stock exchange.
With Trump in office, cryptocurrencies may see "a shift from purely speculative to utility-based growth as developers gain confidence to launch more sophisticated applications without fear of regulatory backlash," Kapelnin said.
Several U.S. Solana makers have told me over the past year that with regulatory clarity, their products would have a much better chance of finding market fit. Here's their chance to prove it.
Start your day with the best cryptocurrency insights from David Kanellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire Newsletter.
Explore the growing intersection between cryptocurrencies, macroeconomics, politics, and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner, and Felix Goffin. Subscribe to the Forward Way Newsletter.
Get alpha straight to your inbox with 0xResearch Newsletter - Market highlights, charts, trade ideas, management updates, and more.
The Lightspeed Newsletter has everything Solana, in your inbox every day. Subscribe to Solana Daily News By Jack Kopenick and Jeff Albus.
Source link