Trump will pull Biden into pro-crypto camp, Scaramucci says

The crypto space is reacting to a whirlwind of headlines this week, from US lawmakers' proposed regulatory framework to the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) pending decision on an ether ETF. Ethereum (ETH-USD) saw a significant surge on Monday amid this hopeful speculation

Skybridge Capital Founder Anthony Scaramucci joins Catalysts Anchors Seana Smith and Madison Mills to share his thoughts on the pace of effective cryptocurrency regulation and how lawmakers and presidential candidates are positioning themselves around digital assets ahead of the 2024 election.

"There are 85 million people in this country that own crypto in one form or another. There are 65 million dog owners, so you have more crypto owners than you have dog owners," Scaramucci, who also briefly served as the White House Director of Communications in the Trump administration, says. "So, I think the Biden administration is looking at polling data and recognizing that younger people, [the] Hispanic community, [the] African-American community are in crypto. You guys really want to go that hard against crypto, I don't think it makes sense from [an] electoral perspective."

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Catalysts.

This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

Video transcript

Crypto is back investors once again optimistic that the SEC is going to potentially approve the spot Ethereum ETF.

So what's ahead and how much further maybe can this rally that we've seen in crypto?

Go?

Who better to ask than our very own?

Anthony Scaramucci is the founder of Skybridge Capital and author of the new book from Wall Street to the White House and back.

Congratulations on the new book, Anthony.

Thank you.

I brought copies for you.

Oh, thank you.

We're hoping the rule is it doesn't have to go to your house, but it can't come back to mine.

Ok. Too many books in the house.

I'm confident of that.

I've got my yearbook picture from 1982 on the front looking good, looking good in that picture.

A lot of money to airbrush a picture like that.

So I, you know, because I was reading um it's sort of odd to me that we're in a state of politicization of our regulatory system, you know, years ago, it was what is right or wrong for the country.

How are we gonna simulate growth?

How are we gonna create transparency for investors and give investors a full understanding of the risk.

Now we're like either hard right, regulatory environment or hard left, regulatory environment as opposed to left and you know, right or wrong.

And, and again, Gary Gensler is an example.

I work with him at Goldman Sachs.

He has taken the politics of this full hog.

And so it's disappointing for us uh on Wall Street because years ago and there's a great book on this Diana Henriquez wrote a book called Taming The Street.

Years ago when they created the SEC, they went to the industry, the legislators, the regulators, the administrators and they worked together to create the system that has been very successful in the United States for 90 plus years.

We're starting to see though a bit of a sea change though in Washington when, when you take a look at the fact that at least the street is a bit more optimistic that we are going to get some sort of approval.

You have the House considering this legislation, you have the Senate pushing back on some of the regulation here.

There does seem to be more bipartisan support here for crypto.

So we are, are we starting to see maybe that narrative change inside Washington?

I, you know, I hope so.

You know, the, the the the problem is you have, you have people that are in their seventies and eighties, some of them are even closing in on 90 that are running this thing.

And so they really don't have a full understanding of what's going on.

Uh, Mike Novogratz said something to me to, uh, yesterday, which I'll share with you guys.

There are 85 million people in this country that own crypto in one form or another.

There are 65 million dog owners.

So you have more crypto owners and you have dog owners.

I mean, it just imagine a politician saying, I'm, I'm anti dog.

Uh How would that go down?

OK with the, the body politics.

So, so I think the Biden administration is looking at polling data and recognize that younger people, uh Hispanic community, African American community are in crypto.

You guys really wanna go that hard against crypto.

Um I don't think it makes sense from a uh electoral perspective and I would have predicted and of course, I did so many things wrong and I write about how many things I've gotten wrong in my life in that book.

But if you had said to me in 2023 what's gonna happen presidential wise in 2024?

I would said both candidates will be pro crypto because they're not gonna lose any votes being pro crypto, but they might lose some votes, particularly from younger people being anti crypto.

But we are both of them are pro crypto just to jump in here and the Biden is pro crypto.

Well, you came on our show and said that he was previously do you not think that anymore.

The Biden administration.

No, I think that what I said, I, I hope I said it correctly if I didn't get to correct myself.

I said the president is agnostic to positive on crypto when we talk and sit down with the members of us in the crypto community.

Gary Gensler and Elizabeth Warren are decidedly anti anti crypto and he's allowed them to control the regulatory brains that could be changing.

I mean, I think that's the point and that's why the Wall Street's optimistic about the Ethereum ETF.

There could be a signal coming from the president and his team, particularly the campaign that this may be a mistake, the direction that we're going in.

Well, do you think that the fact that we are in an election cycle?

You've got Biden and Trump both making it a political football?

Do you think that makes the approval of the Spot Eve ETF more likely I do.

And if you had asked me that last week as he brought me on last week, I said there's no way this ETF is gonna get approved uh because it's gonna open up a Pandora's Box for other types of ETF.

So Salana ETF, an avalanche ETF et cetera, why would those be excluded if Ethereum is included?

And so I do think there's a sea change and I think you saw it literally this week, the market was blah and then all of a sudden we had a 10% move and stuff, 20% move in Ethereum.

So where does that leave this by going back to what Mattie asked just a moment ago, Biden versus Trump is one better than the other today for crypto.

Ok.

So I'm, I'm, I'm obviously supporting President Biden.

We'll have to get into that in a second.

You're asking me a specific question.

I think President Trump has very good political instincts.

He was anti crypto as president.

You can see tweets that he said anti Bitcoin, anti crypto.

He came out about 10 days ago and said he's pro crypto now and I think he is probably gonna tug the Biden campaign into the pro crypto camp.

Ok?

I think they come reluctantly and again, the president, you're correct agnostic on it.

But it's really some of the people like that work for Gary Gensler or Elizabeth Warren, which has more staying power though.

Should voters be concerned about a waffling from either candidate once the election is over?

And he is a good question.

But I, I don't think so because I think younger people like the two of you are coming into power and those older people, I mean, I think, I don't know, was Chuck Rangel like George Washington's great grandfather or something like that.

He's still in the con, I mean, guys give up the reins, let younger people run this thing and I think the younger people will modify this and remember uh the regulars did not want Uber go back.

1012 years ago, regulators, legislators were fighting Uber but you know who wanted Uber?

The people wanted Uber and thank God in a country like this, the people still went out.