Crypto markets surged Tuesday night as investors, anticipating a Donald Trump victory, pushed Bitcoin's price toward $75,000, setting a new record after its previous high of $73,000 in March. Market uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidential race had kept Bitcoin trading below its peak until now.
The Republican party and Trump’s pro-crypto stance since the summer drew massive support from the industry, which had been frustrated by the Biden administration's stricter policies. Crypto advocates celebrated the price spike on social media, predicting the potential departure of Gary Gensler, the Democrat-appointed Chair of the SEC, whom many in the industry criticize for restrictive regulations.
In Ohio, pro-crypto Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno defeated Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown, Chair of the influential Banking Committee. Moreno’s campaign, heavily funded by the crypto sector, positioned him against Brown’s anti-crypto stance.
The prospect of Trump’s win also validated Polymarket, a crypto-based betting platform whose prediction markets had been favoring a Trump victory for weeks. On election day, the site gave Trump a 58% chance, which rose to about 90% by late Tuesday night.
Other cryptocurrencies gained momentum as the election results emerged. Ethereum climbed 7%, Solana rose around 15%, and Dogecoin led with nearly 20% gains, influenced by Trump ally Elon Musk. Musk, a long-time Dogecoin advocate, recently hinted he would establish a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a Trump administration.
The election results also bode well for publicly traded crypto-related companies like Coinbase and MicroStrategy, whose stock prices closely mirror Bitcoin’s performance.