Today polygon's mic token Rises as the Network prepares to migrate to a new Token TD Cowan says vice president kamla Harris could be softer on crypto Compared to President Biden just as Democrats descend on Chicago for the DNC And bitstamp USA CEO Bobby zagato weighs In on how the upcoming presidential Election could impact crypto [Music] Prices welcome to cnbc's crypto world I'm Talia Kaplan digital currencies are On the decline as we kick off the week By noon Eastern Bitcoin slid more than 2% to 58557 and ether dropped 3 and 1/4% to$ 2585 meanwhile polygon's mic token is on The rise this morning climbing nearly 1 And a half% now that gain comes after Polygon reminded people in an x poost on Friday that the platform is migrating to Pole on September 4th in the initial Phase pole will replace Matic as the Network's native gas and staking token And later will serve as a quote crucial Role in the Ager okay let's talk about the top Stories as Democrats converge in Chicago To cement vice president kamla Harris's Presidential nomination a new report From TD Cowan says she could take a Lighter stance on crypto analyst Jared Cyberg said quote we view comma Harris As more open to crypto and digital
Assets than Joe Biden though we do not View this as a priority and believe the Industry could continue to face hostile Regulators cyberg said the comparison to Trump could be a little less clear Though writing quote Trump in recent Months has reinvented himself as a Crypto Advocate but that quote history Tells us this does not guarantee that Trump Regulators in the second term will Be more accommodating to crypto than During his first term the crypto Industry has been urging vice president Harris to take a friendlier approach to Digital assets since she replaced President Biden at the top of the ticket Of course if you want more coverage of The Democratic National Convention you Can check out the latest updates Throughout the week at cnbc.com next JP Morgan says the market cap for stable Coins is growing but the share of stable Coins that make up total crypto market Cap remains unchanged an analyst for the Bank wrote that quote while the Stablecoin universe has been expanding In dollar terms approaching its previous 2022 Peak its expansion has been largely A reflection of the increase in crypto Market cap with little change in the Stable coin market share as a percentage Of total crypto market cap stable coin Activity is getting a boost thanks to The 2024 rally and Adoption of things
Like Bitcoin ETFs in the report JP Morgan says the large price appreciation Of Bitcoin and ether this year and the Resulting expansion of crypto market cap Has naturally led to an expansion of the Stablecoin Universe last the Australian Securities and Investments commission is Cracking down on investment scams Including those tied to cryptocurrencies The regulator said this morning that it Has coordinated the removal of over 5,500 fake investment platform scams More than a th000 fishing scam Hyperlinks and 615 cryptocurrency Investment scams since last July now the Statement mentions that Australians lost $1.3 billion in investment scams in 2023 Making it the leading type of scam Impacting Australians here in the US Investment scams also account for the Most losses by scam type that's According to the FBI's internet crime Complaint center which reported losses Of more than 4 and5 billion dollar to Investment fraud in 2023 losses tied to Crypto related investment scams Accounted for the vast majority of the Stolen funds at nearly $4 billion for More on crypto scams check out our Comprehensive report which dropped Yesterday on YouTube you can head to Youtube.com/ CNBC to watch the video All right back to markets for our main Story I spoke with Bobby zagata the CEO
Of bitstamp USA and the crypto exchanges Global Chief commercial officer about What's driving crypto prices right now And whether the upcoming presidential Election plays a Role major cryptocurrencies in the red This morning with Bitcoin trading at the $58,000 level as around noon now the Cryptocurrency has been trading around $60,000 the past week or so even after Key inflation reports out last week that Includes the CPI inflation report which Revealed that the annual inflation rate Slowed to 2.9% in July that's the lowest Level since 2021 inflation Rose as Expected in July which is likely to keep A rate cut on the table next month the Crypto prices we're seeing now come After that big selloff earlier this Month so how do you think macro factors Are currently impacting prices if at all And what do you think will happen if we Get a rate in September yeah I believe the macro Factors are the primary drivers of of The price volatility or lack thereof um At this moment and I think that's an Indicator of the the maturity of this Marketplace as it continues to grow so Specifically you know while there has Been this um inflation report which is Helpful there still hasn't been any Material reduction in the uncertainty Around uh what the FED might do uh the
Uncertainty around the election that's Coming up the uncertainty around whether Or not Congress might act these things Are unchanged so I'm not expecting or I Shouldn't expect any major changes in Volatility at this Moment and we'll talk more about the Elections impact in just a bit but how Do you Think crypto prices will change if we do In fact see a rate cut in September uh just like any other major Asset class we'll see some um increased Pricing right so or S increases in Pricing so volatility associated with That in other words that rate cut would Translate into higher confidence um in In the marketplace on the part of Institutions and and Retail and uh and That would play out in the price and Therefore the volumes running through The marketplace um at bitstamp we're Seeing uh you know continued and steady Adoption by Institutions um which I believe are not As event driven or Price driven in terms Of their participation in the market um Which is a great indicator once we do Get a little bit better Clarity so What's your outlook for crypto prices For the rest of the year do you think Bitcoin could surpass that all-time high Above $73,000 reached back in
March well having been in the industry For six years now I I've learned never To make a price prediction uh for for Bitcoin or any of the crypto assets but I I would say say that you know I'm Quite optimistic it seems to be a Convergence of a lot of macro factors to Your point that in second half and Particularly in first fourth quarter and First quarter 2025 May conspire to create a lot of Momentum for bitcoin price and and other Crypto prices um obviously in 2024 the first half um of the year for Bitstamp you know was up 60 plus per in Terms of volume and participation Across institutions and Retail and I Think that momentum will Carry and it certainly will be very Interesting to see if that happens so The Democratic National Convention kicks Off today and it's all about the Upcoming presidential election in the Months leading up to it now a new report From TD Cowen says kamla Harris could Have a more open approach to digital Assets compared to Joe Biden we recently Learned that Harris's team is reaching Out to crypto expert to learn more about The industry and speaking with us at Bitcoin Nashville last month Congressman Roana said he advised her team about Digital assets now of course in recent Months Donald Trump has come out as pro-
Digital assets with his campaign Accepting crypto donations the Republican Presidential nominee even Spoke to crypto enthusiasts at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville last month we also Learned last week that Trump owns more Than $1 million in crypto how much Influence do you think crypto can have On the upcoming presidential election And how do you think the outcome of the Election could impact crypto Prices yes well first and as I say to Many of my colleagues let's just Acknowledge and enjoy for a moment that That crypto is has become a Mainstream election year issue in the United States you know in the last Election cycle that was a far off dream But it's it's really happening and I I Was I had the opportunity to be in Nashville um at that conference and the The political energy in the room was Quite quite amazing um so I think the Possibilities are great the Biden Administration also um you know began to Make more positive um um movement in the Crypto related kind of uh issue World U Preceding the change in candidacy and Kamala the Kamala Harris campaign has to Your point indicated a lot of openness Which is which is encouraging uh on the Republican side um you know former President Trump has been quite vocal and Uh he certainly hit a lot of high notes
With the crowd in Nashville um so across All of these possibilities it's net Positive uh I believe for the crypto Space and really an indicator of Mainstream acceptance of this asset and The importance of it in the World Switching gears big news for Bitstamp back in June that that's when We learned that Robin Hood entered into An agreement to acquire the global Crypto exchange Robin Hood says the move Will significantly accelerate its crypto Business expansion worldwide as bitstamp Holds more than 50 active licenses and Registrations around the world what do You think about this acquisition what Does it mean for bitstamp and what will Change for bitstamp us once the deal Closes which is expected to happen in The first half of next year according to Robin Hood Well as you as you may expect uh I can't Comment on an an an active and ongoing Transaction other than to say you know We're very very excited about the Possibilities and what it uh could mean For the industry uh this this pretty Historic Combination now turning to spot crypto ETFs last month spot ether ETF started Trading here in the US what do you think About that development and how do you Think it's going so far do you think Those products will prove to be as
Popular as spot Bitcoin ETFs which Started trading here in the US back in January uh yes I think it'll be Proportional but um the the ETF Approvals and the adoption the inflows That are coming through both Bitcoin and E ETFs it can't be underestimated it's a Tremendous um level of credibility and Acceptance for cryptocurrencies uh in The US and that and there for the world Um the eth side of the equation will Develop um I think it will develop kind Of proportionally to to how that um Asset behaves in the current spot Markets today um but what it does do is It does open up new avenues for Participation by subsets um particularly People who have uh really invested Heavily in the eth ecosystem and people Users both retail and institutions that Are building on that um on that Ecosystem so very very exciting and I Expect that Trend will Continue now you'll be able to check out More of zagat's interview over at Cnbc.com Cryptoworld okay that's all for today But we'll be back again tomorrow and We'll see you then [Music]
