Meet Mike Novogratz, the Political Commentator

AUSTIN,
Texas
–
You
might
think,
given
Mike
Novogratz’s
penchant
for
wrestling,
that
he’d
pick
a
team
when
it
comes
to
politics
and
take
his
opponents
to
the
mat.
After
all,
we’re
talking
about
the
guy
who
once
got

a
tattoo
of
doomed-to-fail
stablecoin
project
Terra/LUNA
–
he
doesn’t
mind
taking
sides.
But
instead,
Novogratz
describes
himself
as
a
“radical
centrist.”

“I
am
broadly
a
center-left
Democrat
…
but
I’ve
donated
to
Republican
candidates,”
Novogratz
said
Thursday
on
the
Main
Stage
at
Consensus
2024.
In
other
words,
if
Novogratz
has
a
team,
it’s
crypto,
making
the
Galaxy
Digital
CEO
a
kind
of

“single
issue”
voter.

Read
more:



RFK
Jr.
Says
Guilty
Verdict
May
Help
Trump’s
Election
Prospects

There
are
many
voters
in
the
U.S.
who
are
increasingly
concerned
about
how
the
asset
class
has
become
a
political
wedge
issue.
So
many
so
that
it
appears
that
the
laser-eyed
focus
of
bag
holders,
perpetual
industry
lobbying
and
recent
endorsement
by
former
President
Donald

Trump
have
helped
soften
many
Democratic
officeholders’
stance
on
crypto.

“There’s
been
a
seismic
shift
in
the
political
landscape
in
the
last
two
weeks.”
Novogratz
said.
“I’ve
been
in
D.C.
trying
to
tell
people
this
is
a
bipartisan
issue,”
but
over
the
years
the

Democrats
seem
to
have
lost
the
plot.
Or
as
Novogratz
said
by
way
of
comparison,
“the
Democratic
party
was
the
party
that
doesn’t
like
dogs.”

Indeed,
the
legislative
and
regulatory
advancements
of
recent
weeks
–
including
the
House
and
Senate
vote
to
repeal
the
maligned
accounting
bulletin
SAB121,
the
House
passing
a
crypto
bill,
major
progress
for
ETH
ETFs
and
President
Joe
Biden’s
reported
outreach
to
crypto
firms
looking
for
guidance
on
saner
policy
–
happened
bing-bang-boom.

“I
don’t
know
what
happened,”
Novogratz
said.
“It
certainly
feels
like
someone
from
the
White
House
called
Mr.
Gensler
[SEC
Chairman]
and
said,
‘You
got
to
change
your
stance,’”
Novogratz
said.
Likewise,
“Elizabeth
Warren
had
a
huge
sway
over
presidential
politics,”
but
unfortunately
for
the
Massachusetts
Senator
she
got
into
“hot
water
with
this
giant
group
of
crypto
voters
in
a
very
tight
election
year.”

However,
Novogratz
did
note
that
the
Democratic
Party
is
not
a
monolith,
and
that
many
have
been
calling
for
positive
regulation
and
consumer
protections,
including
New
York
Representative
Ritchie
Torres
and
Democratic
Leader
of
the
House
Hakeem
Jeffries,
who
“got
it.”

Echoing
Sen.
Tom
Emmer
(R–MN.),
who
said
yesterday
that
while
Congress
appears
increasingly
willing
to
pass
crypto
legislation
the
Senate
remains
a
potential
roadblock,
Novogratz
said
that
the
most
important
politician
in
office
right
now
is
Debbie
Stabenow
(D–MI),
who
chairs
the
agriculture
committee
and
serves
on
the
finance
and
budget
committees,
who
may
determine
when
votes
are
held.

Part
of
what
is
driving
these
recent
political
changes
is
the
sheer
amount
of
money
entering
campaigns
and
all
but
ensuring
crypto
becomes
an
election
issue.
Novogratz
estimated
that
as
much
as
$250
million
has
already
been
directed
to
crypto-focused
Super
PACs,
which
have
become
“de
facto”
Republican.

See
also:



The
Biden
Administration
Is
Easing
Up
on
Crypto
(a
Vibes
Analysis)

The
wonderful
thing
about
any
decentralized
movement
is
it
takes
an
army”
to
take
on,”
Novogratz
said,
highlighting
the
number
of
high
profile
people
like
Coinbase
founder
Brian
Armstrong
“constantly
pushing”
for
reforms.
“There
are
tons
of
people
who
run
companies
and
have
vested
interests”
that
have
moved
the
needle.
“I
like
to
think
Galaxy
is
part
of
that,
but
by
no
means
can
we
take
a
lot
of
credit.”

So,
assuming
a
re-empowered
crypto
industry
becomes
a
bone
fide
political
force,
what
can
the
world
expect
to
happen?

Well,
assuming
Biden
reneges
on
his
decision
to
veto
Congress’
decision
to
repeal
the
Security
and
Exchange
Commission’s
SAB121
accounting
rule,
that
would
mean
a
number
of
TradFi
custodians
like
State
Street
and
the
Bank
of
New
York
could
start
custodying
crypto.
And
they
will,
Novogratz
said.

“You
will
see
a
stampede
of
firms
like
Citi
and
Jeffries
entering
into
this
space.
I’m
hoping
in
some
ways
it’s
delayed
a
little
so
guys
like
us
can
build
our
muscles
stronger,”
he
added.
Though
baby
boomers,
which
Novogratz
called
the
wealthiest
age
group
in
the
history
of
the
planet
with
$45
trillion
in
assets,
may
not
be
immediately
convinced
on
the
merits
of
crypto.
“That’s
a
10-year
conversation.”

But
because
the
“government
can’t
stop
spending
money
on
the
left
and
on
the
right,”
the
narrative
of
crypto
will
continue
to
take
hold.
“Donald
Trump
and
Joe
Biden
normalized
…
profligate
fiscal
policies,”
he
said.

Relatedly,
if
crypto’s
political
influence
continues
to
grow
it
will
likely
be
able
to
exert
pressure
to
change
unfavorable
rules.
This
might
be
the
case
for
ETH
ETFs,
which
at
launch
will
likely
not
be
able
to
stake
the
underlying
asset
in
the
funds.
He
estimates
that
if
enough
people
gain
exposure
to
ETH,
within
12
to
24
months
of
launch,
“they
will
change
the
rules
to
allow
staking.”

“You’d
rather
get
a
yield
than
not
get
yield,”
he
said.

Then
there
is
the
matter
of
the
plethora
of
open
and
expected
SEC
lawsuits.
Novogratz
expects
that
many
of
these
cases
will
be
thrown
out
due
to
a
confluence
of
factors,
including
the
nearing
end
of
Gensler’s
term,
the
regulatory
uncertainty
around
market
structure
(i.e.
whether
tokens
are
securities
or
commodities)
and
fears
of
administrative
overreach.

See
also:



Why
the
SEC
Shouldn’t
Classify
ETH
as
a
Security

“Common
sense
will
take
over,”
he
said.
“It
really
does
feel
like
the
assault
on
crypto
companies
over
the
last
three
years
was
one
of
the
most
un-American
things
I’ve
seen.
It
was
politically
motivated,
in
my
mind,
and
I
don’t
think
it
was
good
for
the
country.
And
I
think
most
civil
servants
and
politicians
believe
that,
too.”

Finally,
there
are
practical
considerations
for
Galaxy,
which
is
a
publicly
traded
company
in
Canada
that
is
looking
to
list
in
the
U.S.
Novogratz
explained
that
the
firm
failed
to
file
its
paperwork
while
Trump
was
in
office,
and
has
been
trying
“to
go
public
literally
since
the
very
beginning
of
the
against
Gensler-Biden
SEC.”

Explaining
the
“long
and
arduous
process,”
which
has
cost
the
firm
an
estimated
$25
million,
feels
like
it
is
accelerating
(and
that
it
was
never
clear
why
so
many
firms
were
being
“slow
rolled),
Novogratz
gave
a
cautiously
optimistic
estimate
that
by
early
next
year
Galaxy
might
enter
the
U.S.
as
a
public
company.

“It’s
been
a
complete
and
total
disadvantage
not
having
access
to
the
world’s
greatest
capital
markets,”
he
said.
With
any
luck,
the
political
headwinds
for
crypto
firms
have
come
to
an
end.