As Joe Biden Ends Run, Crypto Reacts Onchain

Between Polymarket and political memecoins, crypto voted with their wallets on the latest seismic shift.

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Yesterday, Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election and would drop out of the race, a move that ignited plenty of conversation and a lot of onchain activity.

What's the scoop?

  •  Who Will Get the Nomination?: Polymarket shows Kamala Harris, who Biden endorsed, with an 83% chance of receiving the nomination, Michelle Obama at 9%.
  • Market Activity: Election-related contracts on Polymarket Polymarket surpassed $28M in daily volume on Sunday. Over $500M is tied up in election contracts on the platform, with the market for the U.S. presidential election winner sized at $319M and the Democratic nominee market at over $212M.
  • The End of BODEN: BODEN began to plummet on Biden's announcement, dropping ~60% over the past 24 hours. Trump memecoins responded positively though, with TREMP and DJT netting 10.5% and 6.5% gains.
  • KAMA gains: In the immediate aftermath of Biden’s decision before his official endorsement of VP Kamala Harris, a Gavin Newsom-themed token caught a quick 4x, before retracing it completely after the party rallied around Harris. As of this morning, the Kamala-themed token, KAMA, is up 56%, though it is still not the largest gainer. OBEMA, for Michelle Obama, stands in first place with a ~100% gain over the past 24 hours.

Bankless Take:

While crypto and the broader political establishment appears to be banking on a Trump win, Biden's dropout brings new uncertainty to the race. Overall, the reactions on Polymarket have become a new favorite among trusted media brands for gauging up-to-the-minute popular sentiment. Since these markets are highly speculative though, it’s still best to take them with a grain of salt.

via Polymarket

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David C

Written by David C

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David is a writer/analyst at Bankless. Prior to joining Bankless, he worked for a series of early-stage crypto startups and on grants from the Ethereum, Solana, and Urbit Foundations. He graduated from Skidmore College in New York. He currently lives in the Midwest and enjoys NFTs, but no longer participates in them.

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