Donald Trump vs Kamala Harris Debate: Crypto Snoozed, Polymarket Bettors Split on Winner

• Almost $1 billion has been wagered on Polymarket’s election winner outcome.
• Trump and Harris are now tied neck and neck on Polymarket.
• Bitcoin and crypto were not mentioned during the debate.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debated for almost 1 hour and 45 minutes in their first (and maybe last) public debate. So who won?

Who Won?

Although the two Presidential hopefuls didn’t mention crypto once, they debated everything from the economy to immigration to Ukraine to climate change; the lengthy discussion was a little messy.

However, the fiery exchange between Trump and Harris seems to have divided prediction market bettors.

According to Polymarket data, roughly $864 million has been wagered on who will win the election, and at present, this is split right down the middle between Trump and Harris.

However, according to a national poll of likely voters conducted by The New York Times and Siena College, Trump won the debate , but only by one percentage point.

Either candidate has just over eight weeks to shift the electorate and continue galvanizing their voters. According to Polymarket, there’s a 53% chance that there will be a second debate, and currently, 56% of a $1.1 million pool has Harris positioned as a favorite to win a day after the debate.

Pre-Debate Wagers

As per Polymarket data, roughly $3 million was wagered on what either candidate would say during the debate, and it would seem that “McDonald’s” has a better chance of being mentioned than Bitcoin.

As per Polymarket, there was an 18% chance  that Trump would mention crypto or Bitcoin. Conversely, bettors were 10% confident that Harris would mention either.

Though neither candidate has crypto in their official political agendas , confidence in Trump stemmed from his rather bullish and outspoken presence in the crypto scene in recent months. It’s important to note that each candidate’s political agenda should not be confused with their respective party platforms.

The Republican party platform has made crypto a central theme, promising to end the “unAmerican crackdown on crypto,” defend “the right to mine Bitcoin,” and ensure Americans have the right to self-custody.

On the other hand, the Democratic Party’s 100-page manifesto  does not mention digital assets or cryptocurrency. That said, bettors at the time believed  Harris was more likely to interject with “Not Going Back” (68%), “Convicted Felon” (59%), and “McDonald’s” (19%).

Looking to Trump, Polymarket wagers placed greater faith in him reiterating his “Border Czar” (77%) attack line, calling her a “Marxist” (65%), and saying the word “Tampon” (23%), for whatever reason.

Crypto Reacts

Following the debate, the crypto markets remained rather steady, with little change to Bitcoin or Ethereum., which are down  by just over 1% today.

Trump-themed tokens appear to be relishing some gains  in the past hour.

It would seem that the debate provided ample volatility for political memecoin traders. Pepe (TRUMP) is one of the top performers, up 29% in the past 24 hours, and it continues to climb. Many other Trump memecoins such as MAGA (TRUMP) are down by over 10% in the past 24 hours.

That said, they appear to now be bouncing back, with minor gains felt across the board. Notably, the Kamala Horris (KAMA) memecoin was up 3.9% for the past 24 hours.

Crypto Policy Lacking

As far as we know, Trump’s newfound admiration for crypto has seen the Presidential hopeful garner significant attention from major industry players, which resulted in the Democrats looking to crypto as a serious voting issue.

That said, Trump doesn’t have any official pledges in his Agenda 47.

However, he is on record stating that he wants to make the US a leader in Bitcoin mining. In addition to other pro-crypto comments, he and his family have unveiled details—albeit sparse—about a Web3 decentralized finance (DeFi), World Liberty Financial, a project that has vowed to ensure the dollar’s dominance.

On the other hand, Harris has zero key policy positions  on Bitcoin or crypto.

The only suggestion she would lean toward digital currencies is the section dedicated to “American innovation and workers.”

In this, she highlights the importance of promoting “other cutting-edge industries of the future,” which many might appreciate should she consider cryptocurrency or blockchain to be a future technology.

It’s worth noting that there are reports that the Vice President is approaching crypto industry giants like Coinbase.

Brian Nelson, senior policy advisor to the Harris campaign, also recently revealed that Harris would support policies that “ensure that emerging technologies and that sort of industry can continue to grow.”

About the Author

Eddie Mitchell

Eddie has been writing news and content primarily for crypto news and industry players over the past seven years. With an eye for the bigger picture, Eddie prefers to investigate the broader implications of a story, as well as explore the weird and wonderful world of crypto. He believes blockchain has already changed the world, but observes the space overall with a skeptical and adoring eye.

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