Opinion
Mint Quick Edit Crypto’s comeback: Don’t over-read it
Summary
- Bitcoin is back to hitting new peaks as cryptos shrug off recent scandals in the crypto-sphere. Trump’s favour could mean easier regulation, but that doesn’t mean a long-awaited crypto revolution is here.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general got supercharged by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
His pro-crypto stance on the campaign trail has given these volatile assets the sort of ballast that draws comparisons with rocket launches.
Also read: India's crypto industry expects Bitcoin surge to boost domestic business
Till recently, the Bitcoin boom had been a fizzle-out story as one scandal after another rattled the crypto-sphere. But on Thursday, Bitcoin’s price surged past $93,000, before retreating to around $90,000.
Trump had said he would make America the “Bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world," and hinted at an easier regulatory regime for digital tokens that are often frowned upon by financial regulators for having no underlying value.
Also read: The crypto world is preparing for a renaissance under Trump
The brightened outlook for cryptos is reflected in analyst calls too. A Standard Chartered note, for instance, expects the crypto market to swell to $10 trillion by 2026, a fourfold rise from the $2.5 trillion estimate of its size today.
Whether this pans out will depend on multiple factors beyond cryptos finding political favour. What appears highly unlikely is a crypto revolution that sees these tokens supplant national currencies, as some Bitcoin fans argue is inevitable.
