The Harris/Trump trade in crypto

Move over meme coins, there's political play all wrapped up in ETFs.

Why it matters: With Vice President Kamala Harris locking in as the Democratic party's presidential nominee, and President Biden out of the race, the upcoming election stands to be a "win" for crypto, regardless of the outcome.

Catch up quick: It helps that one of America's most high-profile businessmen, Mark Cuban, recently told Politico that feedback he was getting (though, not confirmed by the VP) was that Harris would be more "open" to things like AI and crypto.

The intrigue: "Harris is bullish for Bitcoin, and Donald Trump is bullish for Ethereum," VanEck's digital asset research head Sigel told Axios yesterday.

• Under both, bitcoin would flourish, because their policies are likely to lead to a weaker dollar, Sigel said.
• He added: "There's still a chance that a Kamala Harris administration would be too hostile to stem the brain drain that's already happened." (Read: no change on staking.)
• "Whereas a Donald Trump administration is more likely to reverse anti-proof-of-stake policies."

The bottom line: Crypto will win in the end, according to Bitwise's Hougan, with a "move in a pro-crypto direction" regardless of who takes the White House.

• Ether would benefit more from regulatory clarity, Hougan added. "What regulations do you need for Bitcoin to achieve its objectives — you need to not ban it."
• "There's more regulatory wood to chop on ether." (The co-founder of Ethereum would agree with him. 👇)