Photo credit: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

The US crypto industry is celebrating a significant political win following Donald Trump’s re-election as the 47th US President, alongside a notable increase in pro-crypto representation in Congress. 

According to data from the advocacy group Stand With Crypto, 261 pro-crypto candidates won seats in the House of Representatives, compared to 116 identified as opposing crypto, at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the Senate has a pro-crypto leaning, with 17 crypto supporters and 12 opponents, signaling a shift toward favorable policy for digital assets.

As part of his promise, Trump, who had pledged to support the crypto sector by creating a Bitcoin reserve, boosting domestic crypto mining, and opposing the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), addressed a crowd in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, after securing the presidency. 

His administration’s stance on digital assets, combined with the pro-crypto majority in Congress, could pave the way for regulatory clarity that the industry has long demanded. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong expressed optimism on social media, calling this Congress “the most pro-crypto” in US history.

“Americans disproportionately care about crypto and want clear rules of the road for digital assets. We look forward to working with the new Congress to deliver it.”

A significant development in the election was the defeat of Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a staunch crypto critic and head of the Senate Banking Committee.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Brown was unseated by Bernie Moreno, a pro-crypto Republican, following a record-breaking $40 million campaign funded by Fairshake, a pro-crypto advocacy group. Armstrong highlighted Brown’s loss as evidence that anti-crypto positions are increasingly unpopular with voters.

Crypto markets, already experiencing heightened volatility due to the election, are likely to react to this political shift in the coming weeks.

According to the data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin, currently trading at around $74,818, saw a notable price uptick, reflecting optimism among investors and analysts who anticipate that Trump’s presidency could usher in a more business-friendly regulatory environment for digital assets.