Trump's Crypto Pivot Is Bullish...But For Whom? Mad Crypto Money With Ivan

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I’m Ivan and welcome to my weekly column Mad Crypto Alpha.

Trump Is Right…

You read that right.

Donald Trump flip-flopped on crypto last week.

And in the viral video clip documenting Trump’s totally-not-surprising pivot, Trump only says true things from second 17 onwards:

"If you like crypto in any form, and it comes in a lot of different forms, if you're in favor of crypto you better vote for Trump."pic.twitter.com/WAT5MYuXUC

— Cory Klippsten | Swan.com 🦢 #Bitcoin (@coryklippsten) May 11, 2024

• Gary Gensler is against crypto.
• The Democratic Party has a lot fewer pro-crypto members.
• Crypto comes in many forms (such as Trump’s own meme coin).
• Thus, Trump is less likely to be against crypto.

Alright, even if Trump is right…why should you care?

Read Also: If You Bought Your Mom $100 In Bitcoin, Dogecoin And Ethereum Last Mother’s Day, Here’s How Much She’d Have Today

…And Everyone’s Losing Their Mind

As long as things go according to plan and only regulators and Congresspeople comment on crypto it’s all fine.

But as soon as Trump comments on crypto…

The following anecdote will tell you all you need to know to position yourself correctly for maximum chance of profits going into election season.

It was all nice and quiet on Crypto Twitter following Trump’s 180 until Blockworks’ opinion editor Molly Zuckerman chose to poke the hornet’s nest by giving a — wait for it— different opinion *audience gasps*.

Crypto Twitter has been especially horrible this week in showing support for pro-crypto politicians just because they are pro-crypto

Crypto is not enough to sacrifice your principles — voting crypto shouldn't be at the expense of your conscience https://t.co/p6hiwvPjiW

— Molly Jane Zuckerman (@MollyJZuckerman) May 10, 2024

[Narrator’s voice:] What Molly did not know is that one does not simply shared a different opinion.

The customary social media s–tstorm ensued. All nuance went out the window and Molly got dunked on for her looks, her presumed agenda and everything else a good old hate mob addresses.

But you’re not here to read about Ryan Selkis, CEO of Messari and speaker at Trump’s event, trying to calm down the mob.

Or that Coindesk thinks Trump’s speech lacked substance (no I’m not surprised, how could you tell?).

You want to know why Trump’s pivot is bullish and for whom.

Most people’s dunks on the op-ed had a notable conservative/libertarian undertone. These people aren’t voting Democrat in the fall and most likely never were, Trump pivot or not. And these people do not like President Joe Biden, for good reason or not.

But these people do have a lot of market-moving power because they’re quite wealthy in the crypto industry.

So, what coins are conservative-leaning crypto diehards going to buy come election season?

Read Also: JPMorgan Reports $760K Spot Bitcoin ETF Holdings Even As CEO Jamie Dimon Called For Shutting Down Crypto Industry

Crypto Isn’t All Conservative But Whales Probably Are

Crypto actually does skew Republican as much as it might appear.

As Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, points out, it’s really a bipartisan issue and split almost evenly along party lines.

crypto really is a bipartisan issue

20% of likely voters in swing states say it's a "major issue in the 2024 election" & these voters are split on party lean

45% R, 42% D, and 13% I

it's national dems who've chosen to make it partisan & potentially *lose* votes over it. why? pic.twitter.com/xs4bQeDR2I

— Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) May 10, 2024

But that is not the case on Crypto Twitter. It has long leaned Republican, and many crypto or crypto-adjacent accounts, such as WallStreet Silver, think Trump is likely to win the election (or at least retweet people that think so).

When Trump-supporting crypto whales go coin-shopping in the coming weeks and months, they’re likely to buy cryptocurrencies that are mascots for their candidate.

And political meme coins do not offer much for liberal-leaning folk anyway:

• Trump is the biggest holder of MAGA Memecoin TRUMP/USD, the meme coin created in his honor.
• Jeo Boden BODEN/USD is technically a “SOL - Benzinga">Democrat meme coin,” but it makes fun of the president’s gaffes and perceived lack of mental clarity.
• Other politicial meme coins like Tooker or Ju Rugan parody right-wing media figures, but there’s no such alternative for liberals.

Conclusion: Crypto Twitter wants Trump to win. Coins supporting Trump (or making fun of Biden) have done well and will probably be high on the list again.

But what about other cryptocurrencies? Are these coins going to outperform Dogecoin DOGE/USD or Shiba Inu SHIB/USD?

No idea. If I knew that, I wouldn’t be … ah nevermind.

I’m not saying these coins are guaranteed to do well. I don’t even know whether they will outperform other meme coins. And as always, all of that is subject to big daddy Bitcoin BTC/USD playing ball and staying in an acceptable range over summer.

But I do know that crypto whales like Trump and the memecoin supercycle does not look like it has topped out.

So don’t @ me because that is not financial advice, but the political crypto season is just getting started.

Wrapping It Up

If you liked this column, give me a follow on Twitter and sign up to our "Future of Finance" newsletter.

Shoot me a DM or Benzinga a mail if you have topic requests, and I'll see you back for next week's Mad Crypto Alpha.

gn

Read Next: If You Invested $1,000 In Bitcoin When Donald Trump Said The Crypto’s Value Was ‘Based On Thin Air,’ Here’s How Much You’d Have Now

Image created using artificial intelligence with Midjourney.