Political Memecoins Drop After Trump-Biden Debate

Political Memecoins Drop After Trump-Biden Debate

Hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide tuned in to the debate between Trump and Biden on Thursday night, an event of global interest, especially for the crypto sector.

However, after the debate, cryptocurrencies related to both politicians experienced significant drops, reaching double digits.

The reason for the decline was that after weeks of anticipation, during the 90 minutes of the debate, neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden mentioned cryptocurrencies.

The debate addressed current issues such as inflation, the war in Ukraine, immigration, and the January 6 Capitol assault, but cryptocurrencies did not receive even an indirect mention.

For this reason, after the debate, memecoins related to Trump and Biden saw large declines. For example, MAGA fell by up to 24%, while STRUMP and Baby Trump also dropped by double digits.

However, the most affected cryptomeme was the Joe Biden-themed one, identified as BODEN, which fell by up to 36%.

It is estimated that the cryptocurrency community has already invested at least $200 million in these elections.

The fact that there was no mention of it shows that crypto viewers were expecting a reference that would boost prices.

Why Didn’t Trump and Biden Debate Cryptocurrencies?

It is likely that neither politician found it convenient to address a topic that may still be controversial or unfamiliar to many voters, like cryptocurrencies.

However, both candidates have shown interest in them. Donald Trump has met with representatives from the Bitcoin mining sector and has made controversial promises, such as a possible pardon for the creator of Silk Road.

Many analysts also note the strong crypto lobby around Trump’s candidacy, which has led Biden to soften his anti-crypto stance.

Additionally, Fairshake, a political action committee that launches ads against anti-crypto US lawmakers, reported raising $169 million in the current presidential campaign.

The Crypto Betting Sector Thrives

While political meme cryptocurrencies fall, the crypto betting sector is thriving during the presidential campaign. An example is Polymarket, a crypto betting house.

On this platform, users accumulated at least $2.5 million in curious bets related to the debate.

In June, at least 26,000 users bet around $86 million, representing a 1300% increase compared to its activity in December 2023.

The platform gained notoriety when Donald Trump shared screenshots of bets predicting him as the winner of the upcoming elections.

Some of the most curious bets included whether Joe Biden would close his eyes for more than three seconds, if the candidates would shake hands, or who would drink water first. There were also bets on whether Biden would call Trump a “convict” (which happened) or if Trump would announce his vice president.