The Future of Cryptocurrency: Republican Control and Market Growth

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization could grow by 300% over the next two years if Republicans gain control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress, according to Standard Chartered Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoff Kendrick.

Currently, Republicans have secured the Senate and the White House, while the House of Representatives remains uncertain. Kendrick believes a Republican sweep of both chambers is highly probable.

In this scenario, he expects favorable policies to drive the cryptocurrency market cap to around $10 trillion by the end of 2026, up from its current $2.7 trillion.

> "We think the positive developments will be enough to push the overall digital assets market cap to $10 trillion by end-2026 from $2.5 trillion currently," Kendrick said.

He noted that sectors like crypto gaming, tokenization, and decentralized physical infrastructure (DePin) are likely to benefit from anticipated Trump administration policies and a friendlier regulatory stance toward digital assets.

> "Looking at end-use cases, we expect further growth in gaming and tokenization. We also see potential in emerging subcategories, such as decentralized physical infrastructure and consumer social, as digital assets go mainstream," Kendrick stated.

The Impact of a Republican Sweep

Kendrick explained that a Republican sweep would allow the administration to enact supportive policies for digital assets shortly after taking office in January 2025.

> "We expect several positive developments, including regulatory changes such as the repeal of SAB 121, stablecoin regulations, and a potentially softer stance on digital assets at the SEC," he said. He also mentioned a possible U.S. bitcoin reserve, though described it as "low-probability" yet potentially impactful.

Kendrick reiterated Standard Chartered’s end-2025 price targets of $200,000 for bitcoin and $10,000 for ether, assuming a Republican majority in Congress. He also anticipated that digital assets with specific use cases, such as Solana, could outperform both bitcoin and ether.

The global cryptocurrency market cap currently stands at $2.7 trillion, a decrease of 0.4% in the last 24 hours. According to Coingecko data, bitcoin dominance is at 56% and ether dominance at 13.1%.