Crypto traders are betting that President-elect Donald Trump will usher in a new era of regulation for digital assets that will make it easier for the industry to grow, CEOs of firms involved in those markets told CNBC on Tuesday.
"We have seen basically what people are calling the 'Trump Pump,'" Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said on "Squawk Box." Crypto markets have rallied sharply since the election of Trump, with bitcoin hitting record highs near $90,000.
"There's widespread optimism that the Trump administration, which has stated that they wish to embrace cryptocurrencies and make America the center of cryptocurrency innovation worldwide, is going to have a much more forward-looking policy towards this new industry," Tenev said.
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The Biden administration's Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Chairman Gary Gensler, has had a combative stance toward crypto, with regulators taking legal action against several leading crypto firms, including Coinbase.
But Trump appeared to welcome support from the crypto industry during his campaign, including speaking at the Bitcoin Conference earlier this year.
"I think we finally have a chance to get some regulatory [clarity] in the U.S. about some of these big open issues that frankly, under Gary Gensler, we just haven't gotten any clarity for a long time," Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said on "Squawk Box."
Money Report
Coinbase is a trading platform that is primarily focused on cryptocurrencies. Robinhood is a brokerage firm that rose to prominence in the midst of the "meme-stock" trade in 2021, and offers crypto as part of its trading options.
