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Let's talk about crypto as well. That's on a high to start off the week. Bitcoin climbing above $65,000, as we're just weeks away from the presidential election and US Vice President Kamala Harris voicing plans to establish a regulatory framework for crypto. Here with more on the latest, Bitwise Asset Management senior investment strategist Juan Leon. Um, Juan, as we are seeing Bitcoin climb here, the narrative has shifted and it's been quite interesting to watch because initially it was seen that a Trump presidency would be much more positive for cryptocurrencies. Now, it seems like that Kamala Harris is trying to also capture some of the crypto vote. Do you is that sort of what's helping boost crypto here that it's going to work out no matter what?

Hi, Julie. Surely uh Harris's recent fundraiser was positive. You know, she talked about in uh her administration investing in America's competitiveness, uh encourage innovative technologies like AI and uh and crypto. Uh and that was welcomed by by the industry. Uh and because it's a departure from the Biden administration's adversarial uh stance on crypto and AI. And I think the market is reacting positively uh as a result of that.

Do you think Juan, it's about Harris or is it about Trump? I'm curious to get your take on there because listen, Trump clearly positioned himself, you know, as a strong friend of the crypto industry, um trying to win over crypto votes. I see these reports that prediction markets have really flipped here in the last few days, Juan, now assigning Trump greater odds of victory. I'm wondering if you think that is actually perhaps a tailwind here for Bitcoin and why we're seeing the moves we are.

Yeah, the Trump administration has thus far engaged much more with the industry. uh Trump has explicitly said he would replace Gensler if he came to office. Uh he wants to make the US uh the US Bitcoin mining capital of the world, uh create a strategic stock pile for Bitcoin. Uh so he's been more explicit about how uh he would engage with the industry uh and support it. Um but given the recent comments uh and change of uh of stance from the Harris administration, we're optimistic that Harris could also be supportive for the industry and certainly more supportive than the Biden administration uh could be. Uh the Harris administration has been engaging with the industry players uh and I think they're they're coming uh coming about uh understanding the opportunity that the industry brings for the future of America and the economy.

Juan, you know, obviously cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin are are still relatively young assets, but can we look at past presidential elections since Bitcoin has been an existence? I mean, we talk all the time about how equities tend to perform an election years. Is there any kind of pattern with Bitcoin?

Bitcoin has actually tended to do very well uh in the year post elections um and has has generally seen a very positive upward momentum. Um, we've seen uh increasing regulations around the world that have favored crypto over the past couple years. The US uh is behind other jurisdictions, but uh we've seen regulations come in in uh Europe uh and and in Asia. Uh and so we are seeing an increased trajectory towards more regulatory clarity. Um and alongside that, uh we we're continuing to see upward uh adoption of uh Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies around the world uh and they're really growing at a fast pace. Uh so, you know, elections tend to be the markets hate uncertainty and so leading up to elections, it tends to be more volatile, but uh after you get clarity about which administration is coming and things sort of uh fall into place, um the the upward adoption of cryptocurrencies and the technological uh adoption that is providing continues and that has uh generally played favorably uh post elections.

Juan, I'm also curious, China obviously uh, you know, taking steps, stimulus, they want to support their economy. Has that proven, do you think, to also be a tailwind for Bitcoin? Is that another reason we see it moving higher here?

Yeah, absolutely. You saw Bitcoin rally uh not only with China when it uh cut rates uh and and provided a stimulus to the economy, uh but when the US cut rates as well. You know, zooming out of the election outcome, we're seeing bills with bipartisan support move through Congress in the US. We're seeing a global economic easing cycle with central banks cutting rates, governments stimulating the economy. Um at Bitwise, we have onboarded a record amount of clients this year who are investing in Bitcoin and Ethereum via the ETFs. And are excited about what other assets uh may be approved in that ETF wrapper for them to access uh going forward in the next four years. So we're seeing great momentum in the industry. Uh we're seeing continued innovation. Stable coins are gaining traction, new blockchains uh that are launching uh for specific use cases. We're seeing established institutions from BlackRock to Sony building on top of blockchains. So we're really seeing the industry cross that chasm uh into the mainstream adoption uh and that has us very excited at Bitwise.

Juan, great to have you on the show today. Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you, Josh.