Markets
Ahead of Biden-Trump Debate ‘Low Bar, High Stakes’ PoliFi Tokens TRUMP, TREMP and BODEN Remain Muted
The cryptocurrency market showed no signs of enthusiasm ahead of Thursday’s crucial US presidential debate between incumbent President Joe Biden and his crypto-friendly Republican challenger Donald Trump.
At 04:56 UTC, TRUMP, the first major token in the PoliFi space, was trading near $8.5, representing a 0.5% drop in 24 hours. Its Solana-based counterpart, TREMP, was trading 7.2% lower at 74 cents, and the Joe Biden-themed BODEN coin was trading up 16% at 13 cents, according to the data source. Coingecko. Meanwhile, bitcoin, the top cryptocurrency by market value, traded 1% lower at $61,000.
According to TS Lombard, the first 2024 presidential debate, scheduled for Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET, will likely bring “some surprises to voters, but it has the potential to reshape, if not shape, a tight race.”
“If the volatile Biden underperforms his rival, pressure from big Democratic donors to abandon his candidacy will increase, especially with Biden now trailing in fundraising for the second month in a row. If Trump goes off the rails, Republicans may shudder, but the GOP ticket has won. Instead, the onus will fall on Trump’s yet-to-be-announced vice presidential pick to stabilize his campaign,” TS Lombard said in a note to clients on Tuesday.
“In both cases, the bar (set by the first truculent debate between Trump and Biden) is low, but the stakes are high,” Lombard added.
The Cryptocurrency Industry lobbied to ensure that digital assets are discussed in the televised presidential showdown, and potential comments from both candidates could inject volatility into the market.
Crypto traders will be closely following the debate as Trump has made digital assets a vital issue in his presidential campaign by courting industry leaders and recently stressful the need to mine all remaining bitcoins in the US. As such, crypto is now seen as a Trump tradewith Standard Chartered anticipating a record BTC rally to $150,000 in a possible Trump victory.
Biden, meanwhile, has remained silent, asking federal agencies to explore risks and opportunities, including the potential debut of a central bank digital currency managed by the Fed.
“Ahead of tonight’s first presidential debate, crypto traders will be watching closely for clues about what the November election could mean for Bitcoin and the broader sector,” Neil Roarty, an analyst at investment platform Stocklytics, said in an email to CoinDesk.
“The consensus among the crypto community seems to be that a Trump victory would be favorable for the industry. In addition to the vocal support he has given, bitcoin tends to perform well during periods of political and economic uncertainty, and a second Trump presidency will likely see more of both,” Roarty added.