CoinDesk Report:
Last night, Joe Biden and Donald Trump held the first debate for the 2024 US presidential election. The news media reported on the incumbent president’s “stumbling” performance, matching the many lies from his challenger.
As the debate approached, there were speculations that cryptocurrencies would be included in the agenda, but ultimately, that was not the case.
Michael Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy, a company that supports Bitcoin, conducted a poll on Twitter, with 69% of voters believing that Bitcoin would be discussed.
Clearly, the cryptocurrency community was excited, and the blockchain advocacy group Stand with Crypto even distributed pizzas to the groups gathered to watch the debate.
Meanwhile, the crypto Twitter community, Deegen, prepared to trade meme coins during the debate.
Meme coin trader SolJakey tweeted, “If y’all don’t send me the tickets for this debate tonight, I’ll automatically assume we’re not bros.” He then posted a picture of himself watching the debate in a Tesla with DEX Screener open.
The debate began, and after being asked about the quality of childcare in the US, the two presidential candidates ended up discussing their respective golf games. Anonymous cryptocurrency influencer Ansem saw the humorous side, while others found it frustrating that the couple avoided addressing bigger issues by talking about trivial topics.
As the debate continued, Biden’s performance was questioned.
Soon, the Biden meme coin, Jeo Boden, based on Solana, started to decline.
But some people believed that investors misunderstood this meme. Rather than Biden being an excellent debater, he was creating interesting moments.
Similarly, the situation was quite the opposite. As Biden’s struggles intensified, crypto Twitter showed support for Trump-related meme coins.
An investor expressed feeling sorry for Biden but couldn’t forget how anti-cryptocurrency the US Securities and Exchange Commission was under his rule.
Around this time, crypto Twitter started speculating about Biden being replaced.
Mike Dudas, the founder of crypto risk fund 6th Man Ventures, tweeted, “The Democrats must choose a candidate different from President Joe Biden.” “This is truly a national emergency.”
Ryan Selkis, the founder and CEO of Messari and a Trump supporter, also expressed this view, calling it a “national security issue” and urging the use of the 25th Amendment to remove Biden from office as he announced his inability to fulfill his duties.
After the debate ended, crypto Twitter seemed surprised that their favorite industry was not mentioned. It appeared that cryptocurrencies would be a key battleground in the campaign. However, some speculated that the issue might not be as significant as the crypto community believed.
Who won the debate? Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts bet on Trump, despite him being the candidate more supportive of cryptocurrencies. After the debate, Trump’s chances of winning on Polymarket skyrocketed, with Deegen putting $7 million on Joe Biden dropping out of the race.
Stacy Elliott and Andrew Hayward edited.
