Crypto candidates fared well on election night

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

It was a late night for many Americans, including yours truly, as we stayed up well past our bedtimes to watch the outcome of the election. 

President-elect Donald Trump took the lead early on, with the early results playing out in his favor. But, as was proven as the night matured, it wasn’t just a mirage. It felt like — as a non-political reporter who occasionally dabbles — there wasn’t a single swing state with Harris securing a so-called easy win, even in counties that saw Biden, well, trump Trump last election.

Folks over on Crypto Twitter (sorry, X, but Crypto X just doesn’t have the same ring to it) handed Trump the victory early on, following Polymarket’s odds which quickly saw Trump take a hefty lead over Harris. 

In a pre-victory victory speech, Trump said that his campaign was the “greatest political movement of all time.”

“We’re going to help our country heal,” he added.

“We made history for a reason tonight,” Trump said, alluding to a win that would happen just a few hours after his speech. “I’m excited to be your 47th and your 45th president.”

Trump said that a “star” was born in Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who’s become a very vocal supporter of Trump this election. 

“We have to protect our geniuses, we don’t have that many of them,” Trump added. 

Meanwhile, we didn’t hear from Vice President Kamala Harris last night. Instead, Harris co-chair Cedric Richmond told a crowd at Harris HQ that the votes were still being counted a couple of hours before Trump took the stage. 

The enthusiasm was also evident in bitcoin’s price, which took off and carved out fresh all-time highs not once but twice in the same hour. Honestly, I’ll admit I was pretty surprised to see such a push after all of my conversations with analysts, who thought a Trump victory or lead could see a bump but perhaps not an all-time high. I don’t think anyone’s complaining though. 

With the Trump win, “expect a green light for crypto and an SEC power shuffle. Trump’s pro-business stance means open doors, with CFTC oversight and a crypto-friendly regulatory landscape in reach,” Thesis general counsel Katherine Snow said.

The night definitely marked a win for the crypto voter, which was very much championed by Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong and CLO Paul Grewal. 

The pro-crypto voters notched a few wins, whether you include the presidential race which could be argued as being a win for crypto given Trump’s previous promises to remove SEC Chair Gary Gensler and potential pro-crypto policies — though to be clear, we have yet to see anything materialize on that front yet. 

Let’s look at Ohio’s senate race, which saw pro-crypto Republican Bernie Moreno unseat anti-crypto Democrat Sherrod Brown. 

A Fairshake-linked crypto super PAC, Defend American Jobs, was a big contributor to Moreno, supporting him with millions of dollars per FEC filings.  

But it wasn’t all wins, pro-crypto candidate John Deaton wasn’t able to upset Senator Elizabeth Warren in their Massachusetts race despite millions of campaign donations. 

It certainly was a long night, but now that the wait is over, it’ll be interesting to see how everything plays out — and whether campaign promises are fulfilled.

Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.