U.S. cryptocurrency stocks dropped in early Wednesday trading following a heated presidential debate where Democratic candidate Kamala Harris put crypto advocate Donald Trump on the defensive, as reported by Reuters.
While cryptocurrency policy was not discussed, Harris appeared to outperform Trump, according to prediction bets on Polymarket. Despite her strong showing, both candidates remain neck and neck in Polymarket’s contract for who will win the election, with Harris’ odds slightly improving during the debate.
Bets on Harris winning rose to 56%, up from 53% before the debate, while Trump’s odds fell to 48% from 52%, according to the online betting site PredictIt. Following the debate, pop superstar Taylor Swift announced to her 280 million Instagram followers that she plans to vote for the Democratic candidate.
The crypto market saw additional pressure as investors awaited the U.S. Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI) report for August, which could offer clues about future Federal Reserve policy moves. Bitcoin was down 0.9%, trading at $56,706 as of 12 p.m. (GMT+4), while Ethereum dropped 0.92%, and Solana fell 1.9%. Other major cryptocurrencies also faced declines, including BNB (-1.2%), XRP (-1%), and Dogecoin (-2.75%), according to The Economic Times.
In July, Trump courted the crypto industry at a conference, seeking donations and votes, and promised more favorable regulations, famously saying, “Never sell your Bitcoin.” He also vowed that under his leadership, the U.S. government would hold Bitcoin as a store of value. Harris, however, has yet to outline her stance on cryptocurrency.
Valentin Fournier, an analyst at research firm BRN, noted that while the debate didn’t directly address crypto, market sentiment appeared to be leaning toward Harris, which slightly dampened Bitcoin’s outlook compared to the optimism tied to Trump’s promises at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference.
The global crypto market cap fell 9.6% to $1.99 trillion, with total market volume down 7.7%. Stablecoins accounted for 91.69% of this volume. Bitcoin’s dominance slipped to 56.02% as its market cap dropped to $1.118 trillion in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin volume in the same period fell 8.5% to $30.9 billion, as reported by The Economic Times.
Ahead of the bell, shares of crypto miners Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital, and Hut 8 fell between 3.6% and 5.3%. MicroStrategy dropped 5.4%, while Coinbase Global and Bitfarms fell 3.6% and 3.8%, respectively, according to Reuters.
