Crypto market cap could triple by end of 2026 with Republican sweep of US Congress: Standard Chartered analyst

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization could grow by 300% over the next two years if Republicans achieve control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress, according to Standard Chartered Global Head of Digital Assets Research Geoff Kendrick.

Currently, Republicans have secured the Senate and the White House, while control of the House of Representatives remains uncertain. However, Kendrick says a Republican sweep of both chambers is highly probable.

In this scenario, Kendrick expects favorable policies to drive the entire cryptocurrency market capitalization to around $10 trillion by the end of 2026, up from its current $2.7 trillion.

"We think the positive developments will be enough to push overall digital assets market cap to $10 trillion by end-2026 from $2.5 trillion currently," Kendrick said. He noted that sectors like crypto gaming, tokenization, and decentralized physical infrastructure (DePin) are likely to benefit from the anticipated Trump administration policies and a friendlier regulatory stance toward digital assets.

"Looking at end-use cases, we expect further growth in gaming and tokenization. We also see potential in emerging subcategories, such as decentralized physical infrastructure and consumer social, as digital assets go mainstream," Kendrick said.

Cryptocurrency market could benefit from Republican sweep

A Republican sweep, he explained, would allow the new administration to enact supportive policies for digital assets soon after taking office in January 2025.

"We expect several positive developments, including regulatory changes such as the repeal of SAB 121, stablecoin regulations, and a potentially softer stance on digital assets at the SEC," Kendrick said. He also suggested a potential U.S. bitcoin reserve, although "a low-probability," would be a high-impact event.

Kendrick reaffirmed Standard Chartered’s end-2025 price targets of $200,000 for bitcoin and $10,000 for ether, targets that assume a Republican majority in Congress.

He also anticipated that digital assets with more specific use cases, such as Solana, could outperform both bitcoin and ether. The global cryptocurrency market cap today stands at $2.7 trillion, a decrease of 0.4% in the past 24 hours. According to Coingecko data, bitcoin dominance is at 56% and ether dominance is at 13.1%.