Crypto World Takes Victory Lap After Big Politics Bet Pays Off (1)

On Nov. 5, a few dozen Bitcoiners, MAGA-hat wearers and curious locals gathered to watch the election results come in at PubKey, a Bitcoin-themed bar in New York’s Greenwich Village. A digital display on the wall showed the price of Bitcoin, which ticked past $73,000 as favorable news came in for Donald Trump. The tallies looked increasingly good, too, for Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican trying to unseat Senator Sherrod Brown, who’d called for hearings on crypto’s use by terrorists. Moreno was backed by $40 million from crypto companies.

Election night at PubKey.

Photographer: Mel D. Cole for Bloomberg Businessweek

At 10:30 p.m., the organizer ...