Despite industry insiders’ hopes, cryptocurrency was not addressed during the first general debate on the 2024 US presidential election.
This first debate between now-President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, both presumptive nominees for their respective parties, took place Thursday in Atlanta, Georgia, on CNN, hosted by CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. The 90-minute debate began with the economy, but also touched on topics such as abortion, immigration, and foreign policy. The economic portion was brief, and the debate barely touched on technology policy, let alone the digital asset sector.
Cryptocurrencies have been a hot topic for candidates and lawmakers this election cycle, but they came to the forefront in a big way after Trump began discussing cryptocurrency issues on the campaign trail, promising to commute the sentence of Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht and issuing statements on regulation. For its part, Biden’s campaign has not made any public statements on cryptocurrencies, although his administration recently said it plans to work with Congress on legislation addressing cryptocurrencies.
Biden, who took office in January 2021, sounded hoarse and spoke in a low voice throughout the evening, presumably because of a cold. Trump was louder and clearer, though fact-checkers panned his debate claims more than Biden’s.
For its part, the crypto industry is hoping for a Congress and administration that can pass legislation that is more favorable to digital asset companies. To that end, participants are looking to repeat their massive spending for the 2022 election, with companies like Coinbase, Ripple, and Andresseen Horowitz donating about $50 million each to political action committees like Fairshake to support candidates.
To know more: Cryptocurrency giants score victories in expensive quest to influence US politics, without mentioning cryptocurrencies
The sector scored several victories in the primary season, with the support of the PAC funding ads against Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) who is running for a Senate seat and against Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) in his re-election primary.
The first part of Thursday’s debate focused on the economy, with moderators asking about inflation, the cost of living and the national debt in recent years.
A prediction market on Polymarket gave Trump the best odds of winning in November during the debate, with bets reaching 68 cents, versus 29 cents for Biden. Each share pays $1 if the prediction comes true and zero if it doesn’t, meaning the market thinks Trump has a 68% chance of winning.
