Chainsaw Massacre

“Chainsaw Massacre” – a cartoon that illustrates how Donald Trump might make changes to the regulatory environment for the blockchain industry.

A lot has been said about the crypto side of the industry, but the longer-term impact of Trump’s victory might be more profound on blockchain technology.

Blockchain technology has long promised to create trust in a decentralized and transparent way, but the promise has been stymied in the United States by regulatory uncertainty due to failure of action in Congress and regulation by enforcement in the executive branch (e.g. SEC).

For example, blockchain allows fractional ownership of real-world assets like real estate, art, and commodities through tokenization, making it easier for consumers to invest in assets that would otherwise be out of reach.

But, regulatory ambiguity around asset-backed tokens has slowed the development of tokenized markets in the US. For example, Florida-based RealT, which offers consumers the chance to buy factionalized real estate at $50 per token, decided to limit its offerings to international markets.

With Trump’s trifecta win (the executive and the two houses of congress), we can expect him fulfilling his promise to replace SEC chair Gary Gensler on “day one” and many of the Wells notices will likely turn into ‘No Action’ letters.

One early indication of how far this could go is whether the bipartisan Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) is heavily amended to become even more pro-Blockchain technology or if they decide to scrap this Act altogether and start afresh with new legislation.