Trump Wins, Bitcoin Soars: Where Does the Market Go Next?
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Trump Wins, Bitcoin Soars: Where Does the Market Go Next?
Over a dozen cryptocurrency venture capitalists share their next steps following Trump's victory and the surge in Bitcoin.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy: Yogita Khatri
Translation: Baicai Blockchain
In recent days, the cryptocurrency world has been in turmoil, with Bitcoin surging past $93,000 following Donald Trump’s election victory. Recalling when I began writing about crypto back in 2018—when Bitcoin was trading around $3,000—it's remarkable to witness the market's rapid evolution.
I spoke with over a dozen crypto venture capitalists. While everyone expressed excitement about Trump’s win and Bitcoin’s rally, most remain committed to their long-term investment strategies. However, some investors are adjusting their approaches, paying closer attention to emerging political and market trends.
Lasse Clausen, founding partner at 1kx, said: "The industry-wide excitement is justified. It's hard for outsiders to understand how much innovation was suppressed under the previous administration. Now founders can experiment freely, and we’ll see many exciting new products emerge."
Arianna Simpson, partner at a16z crypto, echoed similar sentiments, noting that "the past few years have been challenging for the crypto industry." But she expects significant policy shifts that will greatly benefit Web3 builders and companies.
With expectations of clearer crypto regulation under a Trump administration, investors anticipate more founders entering the Web3 space. Earlier this week, Portal Ventures—founded by former Insight Partners investor Evan Fisher—raised $75 million for its second fund focused on crypto startups. Fisher believes successful entrepreneurs who previously hesitated due to legal and regulatory risks will now engage more actively. "We’ll see more top-tier founders gradually enter the crypto space," he said.
Jake Brukhman, founder and CEO of CoinFund, said his firm is preparing for an upcoming "super cycle" in crypto. CoinFund remains well-capitalized across seed, venture, and liquidity investments, and has expanded its team by six members this year, five of whom joined within the past two to three months.
1. Betting on Crypto-AI, DeFi, and More
Looking ahead, crypto VCs are focusing on high-potential sectors including crypto-AI, DeFi, RWA (real-world asset) tokenization, infrastructure, stablecoins, and payments.
Many investors view the convergence of crypto and AI as the next disruptive trend. Ed Roman, co-founder and managing partner at Hack VC, called crypto-AI "the hottest category in crypto right now," foreseeing a multi-layered Web3 AI ecosystem leveraging decentralized compute networks cost-effectively. "This market could reach trillions of dollars serving Web2 customers. Unlike NFTs, AI isn't a fad—it's creating real business value and may be the most important technological innovation since smartphones and the internet," he said.
However, Roman noted that the healthy development of crypto-AI largely depends on performance in Web2 AI, particularly NVIDIA. As such, Hack VC treats NVIDIA as a "loose indicator" for the crypto-AI sector.
Balder Bomans, CIO and managing partner at Maven 11 Capital, believes crypto-AI startups will grow, especially decentralized DePIN protocols providing computational resources for AI model training. CoinFund’s Brukhman added that most retail investors wanting exposure to AI may do so via cryptocurrencies next year. "AI tokens are scarce and in high demand. Summer 2025 will be the summer of decentralized AI (deAI)," he said.
Another key investment focus is the expected revival of DeFi amid increasing institutional adoption. Hack VC’s Roman noted that DeFi recently suffered as high interest rates made U.S. Treasuries more attractive. However, with expectations of Trump lowering rates, DeFi could gain an edge over traditional financial instruments like Treasury bonds. He sees DeFi as a "once-in-a-century" opportunity to dramatically streamline financial processes.
Clausen from 1kx pointed out that traditional financial institutions may begin tokenizing RWAs and using DeFi infrastructure at scale. "Think about how complex trading, clearing, and settlement are in traditional finance—on a decentralized exchange (DEX), all of this can happen instantly in one transaction, without counterparty risk and with publicly verifiable transparency," Clausen said. "It's like 'shooting fish in a barrel'—effortless."
Erick Zhang, managing partner at Nomad Capital and former Binance executive, also sees growth potential in DeFi, especially amid rising altcoin activity and challenges facing centralized exchanges. Will Nuelle of Galaxy Ventures and Thomas Klocanas of BlockTower Capital similarly favor expansion in DeFi, RWA tokenization, stablecoins, and payments.
Nuelle said: "After Trump takes office, one of the biggest barriers to stablecoin adoption in payments—the banking relationships tied to fiat systems—will become smoother. We hope and expect that banks legally serving crypto will no longer fear retaliation from the FDIC or other agencies, enabling better integration with growing use cases."
2. Consumer-Facing Apps and Infrastructure Also Gaining Attention
Simpson from a16z crypto said: "I'm particularly excited about consumer applications in crypto, a segment heavily impacted by policies of the previous administration. We continue to closely monitor ongoing developments in DePIN and infrastructure projects."
Alvaro Gracia, partner at Borderless Capital, also noted that as Bitcoin dominance shifts toward altcoins, DeFi and DePIN sectors are poised for growth. His firm manages a $100 million DePIN fund, with approximately $70 million still available for deployment over the next two to three years—Gracia is especially bullish on such projects.
Clausen from 1kx added that the firm focuses on infrastructure, middleware, and consumer applications—particularly those requiring bank integrations, which were previously hindered by regulation.
Adam Winnick, general managing partner at Finality Capital Partners, expressed optimism about infrastructure verticals, especially startups working on restaking and zero-knowledge technologies. Miko Matsumura, managing partner at Gumi Cryptos Capital, focuses on foundational and scalability infrastructure projects aimed at solving "normal problems for ordinary people," rather than just "crypto-native problems."
Meanwhile, some investors are cooling on infrastructure. Bomans from Maven 11 noted that as powerful monolithic chains rise and modular tech stacks improve, the firm shifted its investment focus toward application-layer projects over the past year.
Fisher from Portal Ventures said his team invests less in infrastructure, preferring startups with clear distribution advantages and proven user demand.
Zhang from Nomad Capital also mentioned they are being more cautious with infrastructure investments, particularly Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks. He believes "most infrastructure projects are essentially 'infrastructure memes,' whose success often hinges on the founding team’s ability to manage narrative and branding—few teams possess this unique dynamic."
3. Potential Risks Under a Trump Administration
While Trump’s presidential win has brought renewed optimism to the crypto sector, several VCs warned of potential risks that could impact industry development.
Clausen from 1kx expressed concern over Trump’s immigration policies, warning that reduced labor supply could lead to persistent wage inflation—a negative factor for risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
Nuelle from Galaxy Ventures cautioned that if Trump becomes "too hands-off" with crypto regulation, it might repeat the FTX debacle. He believes balanced bipartisan legislation and clear digital asset status would create the most stable long-term value for the market.
Zhang from Nomad Capital noted that if bold proposals—such as making Bitcoin a U.S. strategic reserve asset—fail to materialize quickly, market enthusiasm could fade, causing the "Trump effect" to lose momentum.
Roman from Hack VC believes the key question is whether the U.S. will actively accumulate newly mined Bitcoin, or simply hold existing confiscated coins. Either way, it's positive for the crypto market. But if the U.S. begins aggressive accumulation, it could prompt other nations to follow, influencing global policy—and having a far deeper impact on the entire crypto market.
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