Ethereum is “positioned to benefit more from Donald Trump’s presidential election victory” than any other protocol, according to Consensys CEO Joe Lubin. “We’ve lived in a world that’s been manipulated by the SEC for a long time,” Lubin told Cointelegraph at Devcon 2024 in Thailand. “We think this is clearly driven by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party,” he added.
Consensys, which has been battling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), laid off 20% of its staff in October and blamed part of the blame on the SEC’s “abuse of power.” Since Trump’s victory last week, Rubin believes things are looking up, especially with Ethereum’s prospects brighter given the final changes in the SEC’s leadership. “The U.S. has been suppressing Ethereum, especially Ethereum, for a long time, and that has caused a lot of panic and uncertainty.” Bitcoin has risen 16% since Trump’s victory on November 5, while Solana and BNB have risen 8% and 3%, respectively. Ethereum, on the other hand, has risen 23% in the past seven days and is trading around $3,200, according to CoinMarketCap. “We’ve seen a much more favorable rally for Ether [...] So I think Ethereum will benefit more than other protocols, especially because it’s much larger and more mature than all the other ecosystems except Bitcoin, which is mature but narrow,” Rubin said. Farside data shows that since Trump’s election, the U.S. spot Ethereum ETF has seen a lot of investment, with inflows reaching a record high of $295 million on November 11, but the Bitcoin ETF has performed much better in comparison.
Joe Lubin hopes for smooth transition at SEC
Trump is scheduled to return to the White House on January 20, and Rubin and others said SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will submit his resignation on the same day.
Rubin said he would like to see current SEC commissioner Mark Uyeda serve as acting chairman.
“Hopefully they don’t try to block a lot of people and companies before they exit. Hopefully they can exit or transition gracefully,” Rubin said.
Ahead of the November 5 election, Consensys published an open letter to the next U.S. president, calling for clear, supportive regulations for cryptocurrencies and Web3.
The letter, published on October 23, said regulatory uncertainty is hindering the development of blockchain technology.
