Bernstein Analysts Foresee Crypto-Friendly SEC and Senate Banking Committee To Speed Up Regulatory Clarity

In a research report on Thursday, Bernstein analysts expect a new “crypto-friendly” SEC Chair and Senate Banking Committee to accelerate regulatory clarity for the industry after Donald Trump’s win in the US Presidential election. 

The U.S. election result should improve regulatory clarity for digital assets, with the SEC and Senate Banking Committee becoming more crypto-friendly following Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential race and the Republican party securing control of the Senate, it said.  

Under Gensler, Bernstein noted that the SEC was in legal battles with key crypto industry participants including Coinbase (COIN), Robinhood (HOOD), and Binance as well as decentralized finance (DeFi) and stablecoin companies.

Specifically, the analysts expect faster progress on stablecoin and market structure bills positively impacting stablecoin issuers such as Circle and Paxos and U.S crypto exchanges. 

It expects a rerating of broader crypto assets, which have suffered from a lack of clarity as to their security status. It also expects asset managers to introduce more exchange-traded fund (ETF) products based on other cryptocurrency tokens.

Trump, in his renewed stance towards cryptocurrencies, had made many promises during their campaign like firing Gensler on day one, turning the U.S. into a bitcoin mining “powerhouse” and creating a national strategic bitcoin reserve. The analysts also expect the new administration to take positive steps.

“We expect a new regime of crypto rulemaking,” the broker said, adding that this “transformational shift is not priced in.” The report also added that positive action is expected toward setting up a national bitcoin reserve, in accordance with Trump’s promise, and more focus on mining growth in the U.S.