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Prince William announces winners in Cape Town

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Prince William announces winners in Cape Town


PA Billy Porter takes a selfie with the Prince of Wales, Robert Irwin and Nomzamo Mbatha.PA

Actor Billy Porter and Earthshot ambassadors Robert Irwin and Nomzamo Mbatha joined the Prince of Wales on stage

The Prince of Wales has said he wants his environmental Earthshot prize to “change the world for good” over the next decade as he celebrated this year’s winners.

Prince William closed the awards ceremony in Cape Town by calling for people around the world to join the “movement for change”.

Models Heidi Klum and Winnie Harlow, actor Nina Dobrev and artist Tobe Nwigwe announced the £1m ($1.2m) prize winners from each category at the event.

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The recipients included an initiative that saved a rare antelope species from extinction and a Kenyan company that uses solar powered fridges to stop harvested crops spoiling.

The fourth edition of the Prince’s annual Earthshot Prize awards was hosted by Emmy-winning actor Billy Porter and TV presenter Bonang Matheba.

It supports sustainable, eco-friendly projects from around the world, with each of the five winners receiving £1m to scale-up their innovative ideas to “repair” the planet.

There are five ‘Earthshots’ – or goals: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean Our Air; Revive Our Oceans; Build a Waste-free World; and Fix Our Climate.

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Fifteen finalists, from countries including France, Kenya, Indonesia, the UK and Nepal, were competing for their category’s prize pot after being whittled down from 2,500 applicants.

Earthshot Prize 2024 – Full list of winners

  • Clean Our Air: Green Africa Youth Organization, who use behavioural change to help communities clean up waste and build circular waste management infrastructure across Africa
  • Build a Waste-free World: Keep IT Cool, a Kenyan-based company using solar powered refrigeration to help cut harvest waste for farmers
  • Fix Our Climate: Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems, an American company that convert excess heat, produced during the making of steel or cement, into electricity
PA Winnie Harlow takes a selfie with the Prince of Wales and other performers and presenters during the Earthshot Prize Awards.PA

The awards ceremony in Cape Town featured a star-studded series of guests

Earlier on Wednesday, the prince praised his wife the Princess of Wales, who is recovering after treatment for cancer, saying she has been “amazing this whole year”.

His wife had not travelled to South Africa and would watch the ceremony at home in Windsor, he said.

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“I know she’ll be really keen to see tonight be a success,” he added.

All 2,000 attendees were asked to wear sustainable clothes – either made from recycled materials or a previously worn outfit – and on arrival a host of global stars, made their way down the “green carpet” instead of a traditional red one.

And the prince was no exception, dressed in a second-hand double-breasted Prince of Wales check jacket and white plastic-free fully biodegradable shoes.

Dubbed the prince’s “Super Bowl” moment, the awards were broadcast live across Africa and streamed online. In his closing remarks, the prince said he believed the world could be “rich in possibility, in hope, and in optimism”.

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“Our aim was to find solutions to repair our planet and provide real hope for the future.

“We want to make this the decade in which we transform the world for good, one solution at a time, from the ground up,” he said.

Getty Images Prince William and Nomzamo Mbatha pose for a selfie with young people during the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme in Cape Town, South Africa. Both are smiling and are surrounded by dozens of smiling young people.Getty Images

The prince’s visit to Cape Town has focused on young people

When asked earlier about achieving the prize’s green goals in a tough political climate, the prince was positive.

“Everyone wants some hope and some optimism and Earthshot comes with urgent optimism,” he said.

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Co-host Harlow said she was honoured to be involved in the project, adding: “This should be something near and dear to everyone’s heart when it comes to taking care of Mother Earth.”

And Klum, who announced the Fix Our Climate category winner, said: “It’s great to spread the word and shine a light on these amazing organisations and what they do.”

What is the Earthshot Prize?

Getty Images Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge standing on the green carpet at the Earthshot awards in 2021. William is wearing a dark green velvet jacket and a navy blue roll-neck sweater. Kate has a simple white dress on. Both of them are smiling at the camera.Getty Images

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the first Earthshot awards in 2021

Organisers of the Earthshot Prize, which was first awarded in 2021, say they were inspired by former US president John F Kennedy’s Moonshot project, which set scientists the challenge of getting astronauts to the moon and back safely.

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The aim of the awards, organisers say, is to celebrate and support those working to provide innovative solutions for climate and environmental issues.

There was a focus on ideas from Africa for this year’s Earthshot Prize, with more than 400 African-led projects nominated and another 350 linked to the continent.

Although Africa generates the fewest emissions for global warming, many of its countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change.

As he spoke of his deep connection to Africa last week, Prince William said he wanted this year’s prize to provide a platform for innovators to bring about change for their communities and inspire young people across the continent.

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“Africa has always held a special place in my heart – as somewhere I found comfort as a teenager, and where I proposed to my wife,” he said.

Much of the prince’s visit to Cape Town has focused on young people and the power they have to bring about change.

“Without them the future is looking pretty bleak so these are the game-changers, the innovators, the inventors who are going to make the world a better place for us in future,” he said.

A recent UN report warned that the goals of the Paris agreement to keep global temperatures under 2C while making efforts to stay below 1.5C are now in very serious danger.

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Knots made in a weird quantum fluid can last forever

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Knots made in a weird quantum fluid can last forever


Certain knots, like this trefoil, can be formed from vortices in a quantum fluid

Login/Shutterstock

By manipulating a quantum fluid, researchers could form liquid knots that never unravel. These could help us shed light on odd quantum objects from the dawn of the universe.

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When tiny whirlpools called vortices form in a fluid, they can make loops that can then be knotted like a loop of string. But while a string can form knots that won’t unravel without the help of scissors, knotted vortices in a fluid break free more easily. They can explode into a diffuse swarm of…



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Oil market’s future still uncertain under Donald Trump after election win

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Oil market's future still uncertain under Donald Trump after election win


Offshore workers examine hydrocarbon samples aboard the Chevron Corp. Jack/St. Malo deepwater oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, U.S., on Friday, May 18, 2018.

Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images

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U.S. oil producers are looking forward to less regulations on crude production under a Donald Trump presidency, meaning higher oil supply and consequently lower prices.

But it’s not that straightforward: Trump who was announced Wednesday as the winner of the 2024 election, has also vowed to put more sanctions on Iranian and Venezuelan barrels, meaning the global market could become tighter, potentially boosting prices.

At the same time, the increased likelihood of trade wars under Trump could dampen global economic growth and slow oil demand. So the picture for the market’s longer-term outlook is, well, decidedly mixed.

“Conceptually, the impact of a potential second Trump term on oil prices is ambiguous, with some short-term downside risk to Iran oil supply … and thus upside price risk,” Goldman Sachs commodities analysts wrote in a research note Monday. “But medium-term downside risk to oil demand and thus oil prices from downside risk to global GDP from a potential escalation in trade tensions.”

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The U.S. has a 'clear competitive advantage' on energy, says TotalEnergies CEO

Trump expressed his enthusiasm for increased U.S. oil production while giving a speech from the Republican campaign headquarters in Florida on Wednesday, just hours before his victory was confirmed. He made a reference to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the independent candidate who he said would become a part of his team.

“Bobby, stay away from the oil, stay away from the liquid gold!” Trump said in a joking tone. “We have more than Saudi Arabia and Russia.” Kennedy is known for his history of environmental activism.

U.S. oil and gas production hit record highs under the Biden administration, which gradually changed its approach to the industry despite campaigning on pledges of environmental stewardship.

U.S. crude futures — both West Texas Intermediate and international benchmark Brent crude — are currently trading in the $70 to $75 per barrel range, which is lower than what many oil producers seek to balance their costs and budgets amid slowed global demand for oil and growing supply.

Energy sector is the best sector under Biden

But a further push to open drilling projects, putting more supply on the market, would lead to lower prices, thereby decreasing revenues for American producers, said Cole Smead, president and CEO of Smead Capital.

“If the Trump administration opens up federal leases for oil and gas, Federal lands would get 25% per barrel of revenues. You will have a lot of trouble finding an oil company that can make money at $52.50 per barrel with what they have left from a $70 barrel,” Smead said in emailed notes. “The only thing that will cause drill baby drill to happen is higher oil prices based on these margins.”

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“Drill baby, drill is going to run into the energy vigilantes,” he added. “Now that equity investors in the energy business know what free cash flow looks like they won’t give it up. They will allow capital expenditures to go up over their dead body.”

‘Clear competitive advantage’

The U.S. is the world’s largest oil producer, accounting for 22% of the global total, according to the Energy Information Administration, with Saudi Arabia next, producing 11%. The vast majority of U.S. crude is consumed within the country, which is also the world’s largest oil consumer.

The CEO of French oil major TotalEnergies told CNBC over the weekend that whoever wins the presidency should ensure that the U.S. doesn’t lose its energy advantage.

“U.S. energy has been unleashed … since the last two, three years, production of oil has never been so high,” in the country, Patrick Pouyanne told CNBC in Abu Dhabi.

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“For me, today, the U.S. has a clear competitive advantage on energy compared to many [in the] rest of the world,” he said. “So I will be surprised to see whoever is elected lose the competitive advantage.”

OPEC always plays the long game, Energy Aspects' Amrita Sen says

Many in the market forecast lower crude prices due to Trump’s encouragement of domestic oil production and greater supply. Amrita Sen, founder and director of research at London-based Energy Aspects, sees it differently due to the specter of sanctions.

“Every hedge fund I’ve spoken to thinks bearish, because [Trump has] tended to tweet about low oil prices … I actually think it’s the opposite,” she said. “There’s an enormous amount of sanctioned barrels right now in the market, especially Iranian volumes.” Iran is currently producing 3.5 million barrels per day of crude or more, Sen said, with 1.8 million of those being exported, as sanctions and their enforcement loosened under the Biden administration.

“You could lose a million barrels per day of that … when Trump was in power, Iranian exports were just 400,000 barrels per day,” Sen said. “Now I’m not saying it’s going to go down all the way, because smuggling networks are bigger and better probably now, but you could lose a million there,” she said, adding that some Venezuelan barrels could go off the market as well.

For Smead, the outlook is bearish, as he predicts lower prices putting many producers — particularly those with higher production costs — in a less-than-ideal situation.

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“The price of goods that are produced is the number one factor in America’s policies,” he said. “If you are not the low-cost producer, you should be scared.”



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Trump’s election victory sparks dismay among climate community

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Trump's election victory sparks dismay among climate community


Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, listens to a question as he visits Chez What Furniture Store which was damaged during Hurricane Helene on September 30, 2024 in Valdosta, Georgia.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images

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Donald Trump’s election victory on Wednesday sparked a palpable sense of dismay among the climate community, with two key architects of the landmark Paris Agreement warning that the result will make it harder to slash planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions.

Trump will defeat his Democratic rival Kamala Harris and return to the White House for a second four-year term, according to an NBC News projection.

It marks a historic and somewhat improbable comeback for one of the most polarizing figures in modern American politics.

The 78-year-old, who has called the climate crisis “one of the great scams,” has pledged to ramp-up fossil fuel production, pare back outgoing President Joe Biden’s emissions-limiting regulations and pull the country out of the Paris climate accord — again.

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The 2015 Paris Agreement is a critically important framework designed to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. It aims to “limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels” over the long term.

Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the Paris Agreement, said Trump’s election victory “is a setback for global climate action, but the Paris Agreement has proven resilient and is stronger than any single country’s policies.”

Tubiana, a French economist and diplomat who now serves as CEO of the European Climate Foundation, said the context today is “very different” to Trump’s first election victory in 2016.

French Economist Dr. Laurence Tubiana speaks during an event ‘G-20 Event: New Challenges in International Taxation’ at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington DC, United States on April 17, 2024.

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Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

“There is powerful economic momentum behind the global transition, which the US has led and gained from, but now risks forfeiting. The devastating toll of recent hurricanes was a grim reminder that all Americans are affected by worsening climate change,” Tubiana said.

“Responding to the demands of their citizens, cities and states across the US are taking bold action,” she added.

“Europe now has the responsibility and opportunity to step up and lead. By pushing forward with a fair and balanced transition, in close partnership with others, it can show that ambitious climate action protects people, strengthens economies, and builds resilience.”

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‘An antidote to doom and despair’

Separately, Christiana Figueres, the former United Nations climate chief who oversaw the 2015 Paris summit, said the U.S. election result will be regarded as a “major blow to global climate action.”

However, Figueres said “it cannot and will not halt the changes underway to decarbonise the economy and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

“Standing with oil and gas is the same as falling behind in a fast moving world,” she continued, predicting that clean energy technologies would continue to outcompete fossil fuels over the coming years.

Dame Christiana Figueres, Chair, The Earthshot Prize speaks at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies on September 24, 2024 in New York City.

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Bryan Bedder | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

“Meanwhile, the vital work happening in communities everywhere to regenerate our planet and societies will continue, imbued with a new, even more determined spirit today,” Figueres said.

“Being here in South Africa for the Earthshot Prize makes clear that there is an antidote to doom and despair. It’s action on the ground, and it’s happening in all corners of the Earth.”



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Trump claims presidential win. Here is what he promised the crypto industry ahead of the election

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Trump claims presidential win. Here is what he promised the crypto industry ahead of the election


Former President Donald Trump arrives for his campaign rally at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in Doral, Florida, on July 9, 2024.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty Images

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As Donald Trump celebrated his prospective victory on Election Night at Mar-a-Lago, he was joined by a roster of high-profile supporters. Among them were Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick.

One thing those three people have in common: crypto.

It’s an industry that Trump talked little about until recently but has counted on for large amounts of cash for his campaign and related PACs. Getting that money required him to make big promises pertaining to the crypto industry.

Digital asset markets surged on Election Night, with bitcoin hitting a record of over $75,000, as his victory began looking likely. Crypto-linked stocks like Coinbase and MicroStrategy moved higher as well in after-hours trading Tuesday.

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With a Republican-controlled Senate on the horizon, Trump has few roadblocks to putting in place a more pro-crypto platform. Here are some of the things he’s pledged to do:

Trump to headline major bitcoin conference

Strategic national crypto stockpile

In Nashville in July, Trump headlined the biggest bitcoin conference of the year. In his keynote address, the former president said that if he returned to the White House, he would ensure the federal government never sells off its bitcoin holdings. However, he stopped short of proposing a formal federal reserve of digital currency.

“For too long our government has violated the cardinal rule that every bitcoiner knows by heart: Never sell your bitcoin,” Trump said during his keynote speech.

Trump pledged to maintain the current level of bitcoin holdings that the U.S. has amassed from seizing assets from financial criminals.

“If I am elected, it will be the policy of my administration, United States of America, to keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future,” he said.

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Currently, the U.S. Marshals Service regularly auctions off bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies held in the country’s coffers such as ether and litecoin. These sales can sometimes trigger drops in crypto prices, like earlier this year when Germany began to liquidate hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin it had seized.

How Trump was ‘orange-pilled’ by three bitcoiners in Puerto Rico

‘On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler’

In public remarks for months, Trump has promised to unseat U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler.

“On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler,” Trump said, referencing the Joe Biden-appointed SEC chairman who has taken an aggressive approach to crypto regulation.

The president does not have the power to fire the SEC chair. Even if Trump were to appoint a new chairman, Gensler would remain a commissioner on the independent agency.

Gensler has brought more than 100 actions against crypto firms during his tenure at the helm of the commission. In multiple interviews, the SEC chair has said he believes much of the industry already belongs under its jurisdiction, and its lawsuits are simply bringing the sector under compliance.

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Crypto firms argue that the recent legal battles haven’t given the regulatory clarity the industry has been seeking, and they instead reflect a gross overreach by the commission.

Trump also vowed to create a “bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council.”

“The rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry,” he said.

Trump has expressly spoken out about his qualms with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is widely viewed by the crypto community as an existential threat.

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Trump stops short of delivering crypto monetary policy commentary during Bitcoin 2024 keynote

All bitcoin will be mined in America

In June in Palm Beach, Florida, about a dozen bitcoin mining executives and experts sat down with Trump for an hour and a half in a small tea room at the Mar-a-Lago Club. The closed-door session marked the first time the former president took a meeting with the technologists securing the $1.5 trillion bitcoin network by running large banks of high-powered machines.

The intimate gathering brought together a coalition of some of the biggest private and public American miners in the business, including representatives from Riot PlatformsMarathon Digital HoldingsTerawulfCleanSpark and Core Scientific.

Less than four hours after Trump’s roundtable wrapped, the former president took to social media to extol the virtues of the bitcoin mining business.

“Biden’s hatred of Bitcoin only helps China, Russia, and the Radical Communist Left. We want all the remaining Bitcoin to be MADE IN THE USA!!! It will help us be ENERGY DOMINANT!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after his meeting.

Since then, Trump has on multiple occasions reiterated the sentiment.

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“If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted and made in the USA,” Trump declared in Nashville.

“We will be creating so much electricity that you’ll be saying, ‘Please, please, President, we don’t want any more electricity. We can’t stand it!’” he added.

Fed rate cuts

In August, Trump said that, if elected, he would lower interest rates.

The Federal Reserve, which guides the country’s monetary policy, sets the benchmark rate. It also, by design, operates independently from the White House.

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Fed Chair Jerome Powell in September decided to slash rates by a half point in its first easing campaign in four years.

Rate cuts and the easing of monetary policy historically dovetails with a surge in crypto prices since it makes it cheaper to borrow money.

Donald Trump wins Georgia



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Bitcoiners celebrate as Bernie Moreno ousts Sherrod Brown, Ohio upset

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Bitcoiners celebrate as Bernie Moreno ousts Sherrod Brown, Ohio upset


Crypto fans are celebrating the results of the Ohio Senate race, where blockchain entrepreneur Bernie Moreno has defeated Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown, a three-term incumbent, in a contest that was key in the battle for control of the U.S. Senate.

Some $40 million of crypto money was directed at defeating Brown, with one PAC paying for five ads designed to boost awareness of Moreno, a businessman who worked as a luxury car dealer and had virtually no name recognition going into the contest.

The race was also a litmus test for whether the more than $245 million raised by the crypto industry this cycle would prove effective at the ballot box. The Ohio contest drew more ad spending than any Senate race in history, and was the biggest single target of crypto money this cycle.

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Brown was unpopular with crypto fans, in part because he backed Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in holding hearings on whether digital tokens were tied to terrorism. He voted against pro-crypto legislation, called for more regulation of the sector, and regularly posted anti-crypto rhetoric on social media.

Ripple’s billionaire co-founder Chris Larsen told CNBC Tuesday night that Brown’s loss is “more fallout from the disastrous decision by President Joe Biden to outsource financial regulation to Sen. Warren.”

“Tonight I’m sad, but I’m never giving up,” Brown said in brief concession remarks Tuesday evening.

In December, Brown told journalists that he wasn’t concerned about the crypto industry’s rumblings against him.

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“Bring ’em on,” Politico quoted Brown as saying to a crowd of reporters last year.

His antagonists are now taking a victory lap.

Tyler Winklevoss, one of the top individual crypto contributors this election cycle, called Brown a “crypto public enemy,” a “co-conspirator” to Sen. Warren, and a “Gary Gensler crony,” referring to the chair of the SEC. In a post on X, Winklevoss wrote, “The crypto army is striking!”

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is equally excited.

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“Tonight the crypto voter has spoken decisively — across party lines and in key races across the country,” Armstrong wrote in a post to X.

Armstrong called it the “most pro-crypto Congress ever” with more than 219 crypto-friendly candidates elected to the House and Senate.

The Stand With Crypto Alliance, launched by Coinbase last year, started a “Live election results” lander for crypto investors to keep track of the results. According to the tracker, 224 pro-crypto candidates have been elected to the House, against 106 anti-crypto House candidates that have won. In the Senate, 14 pro-crypto candidates have been elected, while nine anti-crypto candidates have been victorious.

NBC News hasn’t yet called all of these races.

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Coinbase gave more than $75 million to Fairshake and its affiliated PACs, including a fresh pledge of $25 million to support the group in the 2026 midterms. Armstrong personally was among crypto’s top individual donors, giving over $1.3 million to a mix of candidates up and down the ballot.

Coinbase has been battling Gensler in court for more than a year over claims it sells unregistered securities.

The industry hopes that a pro-crypto Congress will pass rules that will apportion more of the regulatory responsibilities to the Commodities Future Trading Commission, which has traditionally been softer on its approach to policing the sector.

“Americans disproportionately care about crypto and want clear rules of the road for digital assets,” Armstrong wrote. “We look forward to working with the new Congress to deliver it. Thank you to everyone who stood with crypto today. We did it!”

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The Fairshake affiliated PAC Defend American Jobs, which donated more than $40 million to Moreno, released a statement on Tuesday night, saying that Brown was a “top opponent of cryptocurrency.”

“Senator-Elect Moreno’s come-from-behind win shows that Ohio voters want a leader who prioritizes innovation, protects American economic interests, and will ensure our nation’s continued technological leadership,” the group said.

The political victories were reflected in the market.

Bitcoin surged to a new record above $75,000 earlier Tuesday night as the NBC News Decision Desk projected a good night for Republican nominee Donald Trump.

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— CNBC’s Ece Yildirim contributed to this report.



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