Bitcoin’s price experienced a 1.1% surge during a spirited 90-minute showdown between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in a presidential debate. The event observed Trump widening the gap between himself and Biden in the realm of betting markets.
The value of Bitcoin (BTC) stood at $61,439 before the debate’s commencement, swiftly climbing to $62,152 as President Biden and former President Trump fielded rapid questions from CNN moderators. Subsequently, the price retraced to $61,362 at the time of this report, as per TradingView’s data.
The surge in Bitcoin’s value by 1.1% coincided with Trump strengthening his lead over Biden. PredictIt, a platform monitoring prediction markets, depicted a significant surge in Trump’s presidential victory odds, while Biden’s prospects tumbled. Observers noted Biden’s fumbles in delivering responses and incomplete sentences during the debate as potential reasons for this shift.
Trump’s chances spiked from approximately $0.53 to $0.63 on the platform within an hour, contrasted by a sharp decline in Biden’s odds from $0.48 to $0.37 during the same period. These fluctuations widened the gap between their probabilities by 26 points.
Following the debate, social media pundits promptly criticized Biden’s coherence and overall performance, with even former President Trump highlighting instances where Biden’s responses lacked clarity. Trump remarked on one of Biden’s statements regarding immigration, stating, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence, I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
Reports indicated that Trump made over 30 false or misleading claims throughout the debate, touching on topics like abortion and economic matters under Biden’s administration.
Despite cryptocurrency not being a focal point in the debate, it has emerged as a significant election issue of late. Trump, on June 16, pledged to halt Biden’s alleged “war on crypto” if elected president in November. In March, Trump articulated his ambition to position the United States as a global frontrunner in crypto technology, criticizing Biden for allegedly steering crypto towards a “slow and painful demise”.
In a separate crypto-related event, on June 1, President Biden vetoed a resolution aimed at repealing an SEC accounting guideline prohibiting banks from holding crypto assets on their balance sheets. Remarkably, the resolution had secured majority approval in both the House and the Senate.
Biden justified his veto, citing concern for consumer and investor welfare as the main reason for rejecting legislation that might jeopardize their interests.
The deliberations surrounding Bitcoin, particularly in the context of Layer 2 technology, gain significance as they evaluate its true implications within the crypto ecosystem.