The price of Bitcoin saw a notable increase as Donald Trump extended his lead over Joe Biden in prediction markets during a presidential debate on Thursday evening. The cryptocurrency surged as much as 1.1% within the 90-minute debate, reflecting a direct correlation with the shifting political landscape.
Before the debate began, Bitcoin was trading at $61,439. As the debate progressed and Trump appeared to gain the upper hand, the price quickly jumped to a high of $62,152. However, by the time of publication, it had settled back to $61,362, according to TradingView data.
Prediction markets mirrored this trend, with Trump’s odds of winning the presidency surging significantly. Data from PredictIt showed Trump’s shares spiking from $0.53 to $0.63 within an hour, while Biden’s shares dropped from $0.48 to $0.37. This shift created a 26-point difference in the betting markets, signaling growing confidence in Trump’s performance and potential victory.
Throughout the debate, Biden’s performance was heavily criticized on social media. Many pundits and viewers noted his frequent stumbling and incomplete sentences, which seemed to bolster Trump’s position. Former President Trump himself took to social media to mock Biden’s incoherency, particularly focusing on Biden’s responses to questions about immigration.
“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence, I don’t think he knows what he said either,” Trump quipped, highlighting the perceived weaknesses in Biden’s debate performance.
Fact-checkers from CNN pointed out that both candidates made several false and misleading claims during the debate. Trump was noted for making misleading statements about abortion and economic issues under Biden’s presidency. Despite these fact-checks, the betting markets favored Trump, as reflected in the spike in his PredictIt odds.
Interestingly, cryptocurrency did not come up during the debate, despite its growing significance in recent political discourse. Trump has previously promised to end what he calls Biden’s “war on crypto” if elected in November. In March, he took to the conservative social media platform Truth Social to declare his intention to make the United States a global leader in crypto technology. He criticized Biden, suggesting that under the current administration, crypto would “die a slow and painful death.”
On the other side, President Biden has taken a more cautious approach to cryptocurrency regulation. On June 1, he vetoed a resolution that would have repealed an SEC accounting guideline preventing banks from holding crypto assets on their balance sheets. Biden defended his decision, stating that the legislation would have jeopardized the well-being of consumers and investors.
As the election season heats up, the role of cryptocurrency in the political arena remains a contentious issue. The immediate reaction of Bitcoin prices to the debate underscores the intersection of politics and financial markets, highlighting how closely market sentiments are tied to the perceived success of political candidates.
