Crypto ETFs Look Unlikely to Expand Beyond Bitcoin, Ether Under Kamala Harris, Experts Say

Several
firms
recently
began
seeking
approval
to
create
U.S.
exchange-traded
funds
that
track
cryptocurrencies
beyond
the
already-approved
bitcoin

(BTC)
and
ether

(ETH)
products.
Those
applications
will
probably
go
nowhere
if
Democratic
Presidential
nominee
Kamala
Harris
wins
the
election
in
November,
according
to
two
ETF
experts.

The
approval
of
spot
bitcoin
and
ether
ETFs
earlier
this
year
was
seen
as
a
huge
win
for
the
industry
after
issuers
fought
for
years
to
introduce
such
funds.
One
issuer,
Grayscale,
even

sued
the
U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
to
overcome
the
regulator’s
rejection
–
and
won.
Billions
of
dollars

have
poured
into
the
new
ETFs.

Since
then,
issuers
have
been
taking
stabs
at
the
next
big
crypto
ETF
launch,
with
applications
currently
in
process
for
a
fund
tracking
Ripple’s
XRP

(XRP)
token
and
the
native
cryptocurrency
of
the
Solana
blockchain,
SOL

(SOL).

“It
won’t
happen
if
Harris
wins,
regardless
of
the
issuer,”
said
Eric
Balchunas,
senior
ETF
analyst
at
Bloomberg
Intelligence.

Some
industry
experts
believed
that
when
asset
management
giant
BlackRock
joined
the
race
to
list
bitcoin
and
ether
ETFs,
that
significantly
improved
the
chances
the
SEC
would
approve
them
–
though
it’s
unclear
how
big
a
factor
BlackRock
actually
played.

If
former
President
Donald
Trump
wins
the
election,
however,
there’d
be
a
“decent
chance”
for
more
crypto
ETFs,
regardless
of
whether
BlackRock
joins
Bitwise,
VanEck
and
others
that
want
to
expand
crypto
ETFs
beyond
bitcoin
and
Ethereum’s
ether,
according
to
Balchunas.

Nate
Geraci,
president
of
the
ETF
Store,
echoes
this
outlook.
“It
seems
highly
unlikely
that
a
Harris
administration
would
approve
additional
spot
crypto
ETFs,
at
least
not
anytime
soon
after
the
election,”
he
said.

Seeing
how
current
President
Joe
Biden’s
administration
has
approached
crypto,
which
Geraci
characterized
as
“combative,
overall,”
and
taking
into
account
Harris’
powerful
position
in
that
administration,
it
is
fair
to
assume
that
the
status
quo
would
continue
under
her
leadership,
according
to
Geraci.

Trump’s
odds
of
winning
the
election
have
surged
to
62.4%,
the
highest
in
months,
according
to

prices
on
the
leading
prediction
market,
Polymarket.

Harris,
on
the
other
hand,
has
been
much
less
vocal
about
the
sector
and

has
only
recently
unveiled
plans
to
establish
a
regulatory
framework
for
cryptocurrency
and
digital
assets,
which
she
aimed
toward
Black
men,
who
her
campaign
noted
are
more
likely
to
own
crypto.
However,
details
on
how
she’d
support
crypto
are
still
scarce.