Grayscale and BlackRock Say Democratic Midterm Sweep Won’t Slow Crypto Growth

Crypto asset manager Grayscale said Wednesday that the industry’s future depends less on Washington than on overseas demand and adoption by major financial institutions, brushing off Democrats’ sweep of the U.S. midterm elections.

The view contrasts with the outlook in Washington. Democrats’ wins in the House and Senate threaten to complicate President Donald Trump’s crypto legislative agenda, and the industry’s main market-structure bill may have to be restarted when the new Congress convenes. Grayscale and BlackRock (NYSE: $BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, both argue the business can keep growing regardless.

“The movement toward greater regulatory clarity and institutional adoption of digital assets has much deeper foundations than the efforts of the last Congress,” Zach Pandl, Grayscale’s head of research, told CoinDesk by email. He pointed to the GENIUS Act as a major step for stablecoins but not the only one.

According to Grayscale’s Oct. 28 research note, 80% to 85% of global crypto activity takes place outside the U.S. The estimate combines 14 indicators, including trading volume, mining and ownership, which give the U.S. an average share of 19% and a median of 16%. Some measures cover all of North America, and Grayscale describes the calculation as illustrative. Pandl cited rising demand for dollar stablecoins in South America and Southeast Asia, and wrote that the industry is “bipartisan, global, and increasingly institutional.”

He also noted that the GENIUS Act passed Congress with bipartisan support, and that stablecoin services from payments giants such as Visa (NYSE: $V) and Mastercard (NYSE: $MA), along with tokenized funds from BlackRock and others, show digital assets moving into mainstream finance.

BlackRock struck a similar note. Asked Tuesday at the ETF Investor Forum in New York whether the election could affect its product launches or investment flows, Robert Mitchnick, the firm’s head of digital assets, answered, “Not really, to be honest.” That was before the results were known. Bitcoin and ether already have much of the regulatory clarity needed for investment products, he argued, and the more adoption grows, “the more it becomes a bipartisan issue.”

Washington’s prospects look weaker. The Clarity Act, a sweeping proposal to set federal rules for digital assets, failed in a 49–50 Senate vote in September, even with Republicans controlling both chambers. With Democrats set to take control in January, some industry executives believe the bill has little chance in its current form. Others see room for a revised bipartisan deal, since more than 70 House Democrats supported it earlier, though disputes over stablecoin rewards, consumer protections and Trump’s crypto interests remain obstacles.

Markets looked past the politics. Bitcoin recovered above $80,000 on Wednesday after dipping below $76,000 overnight.

Shares of BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) are currently trading at $1,224.37.