Trump’s election creates “a real opportunity for a crypto golden age,” said Charles Cascarilla, CEO and co-founder of Paxos, a New York-based blockchain platform, on Friday at the Singapore Fintech Festival. “The Trump campaign had a real crypto theme aro

The Republican campaign promoted Trump as a crypto-friendly candidate, accepting donations in cryptocurrency. Trump said at a bitcoin conference in July in Nashville that he would ensure the U.S. never sells off its Bitcoin holdings if he returned to the White House

Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla believes that Trump's election could lead to a "crypto golden age" in the United States.

During an appearance at the Singapore Fintech Festival on Friday, Cascarilla highlighted the Trump campaign's focus on cryptocurrencies, which he believes could drive demand and propel the U.S. to a leadership position in the crypto sector.

"The Trump campaign had a real crypto theme around it, and there's a sense all this pent-up demand could be unleashed by the U.S. and turn the U.S. into a leader from kind of a laggard," he explained.

Trump's campaign promoted him as a crypto-friendly candidate, accepting donations in cryptocurrency and promising to protect U.S. Bitcoin holdings.

At a bitcoin conference in Nashville in July, Trump pledged to ensure the U.S. never sells off its Bitcoin holdings if he returned to the White وحدد البيت الأبيض فيما يتعلق بالاحتفاظ بنسبة 100% من البيتكوين التي تحتفظ بها حكومة الولايات المتحدة حاليًا أو التي تكتسبها في المستقبل. كما صرح بأنه سينشئ مجلسًا استشاريًا رئاسيًا للعملات المشفرة ويضع "احتياطيًا" وطنيًا من البيتكوين.

According to a Reuters report in August, the U.S. holds around $11.1 billion in crypto assets, including 203,239 bitcoin tokens, as per data from Arkham Intelligence.

This stash of cryptocurrency was acquired through criminal seizures by government agencies such as the FBI and IRS.

Trump also launched an initiative called World Liberty Financial, which is centered around a crypto token called WLFI.

In September, World Liberty Financial disclosed a reduction in its fundraising goal in a regulatory filing. The company now aims to raise up to $30 million from investors, which is a 90% decrease from its initial target of $300 million.

Other speakers at the festival suggested that the U.S. was already shifting towards a more crypto-friendly stance.

Eric Anziani, president of Crypto.com, stated that "a clear direction was set" when Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs were approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year.

The approved ETFs included funds from major investment firms such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Inveslerco.

"We're also seeing global regulators starting to treat crypto as a more mainstream asset," said Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, pointing to new Bitcoin ETFs in markets like Hong Kong, Australia, and Canada.

"But the election [marks] the beginning of a new era," Anziani added.

A new Trump presidency could provide greater clarity on cryptocurrency regulations, which Cascarilla believes will jumpstart the crypto industry given the size of the U.S. market.

Several billionaires linked to the cryptocurrency industry, including Elon Musk and the Winklevoss twins, endorsed or donated to Trump's campaign.

Crypto firms have expressed dissatisfaction with Gary Gensler, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, over his crackdown on U.S.-based cryptocurrency firms.

Investors now hope that a new Trump administration will replace Gensler with someone more favorable to the crypto sector.

"The SEC for the past few years has been waging a war on [the crypto] industry," Monica Long, president of Ripple, said on Friday. "It's really hard to navigate an environment like that."