Harris and Trump in Their First Presidential Debate, Did They Talk Crypto?

Harris and Trump debated hot topics like the economy and immigration, but crypto received no mention.
Trump criticised the current administration’s economic policies and labelled Harris a Marxist.
Despite Harris’ shaky start, pundits largely viewed her as the debate winner against an often angry Trump.
Market reaction saw Trump’s odds fall by 3% on Polymarket, while Harris’ increased similarly.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump met for their first presidential debate, although it wasn’t the first one for former president Trump. Trump and Joe Biden, the current POTUS, had a debate earlier in June, which arguably led to Biden later dropping out of the 2024 race for the White House.

Related: Crypto Continues to Grow, 65% HODL Long-term, Says Gemini Report

Now, in a much-anticipated event, Harris and Trump discussed a variety of topics on the minds of many US voters, from abortion to immigration and one of the most important topics: the economy.

Economics was the first topic the candidates were asked about by the ABC hosts and took a solid chunk (16 minutes) out of the 90-minute debate. Crypto investors probably had hoped that the conversation would at least cover crypto or Bitcoin to some extent, as many US voters say they are single-issue voters who will vote for the person with the crypto-friendly policy.

Crypto Didn’t Get a Single Mention

But, to much disappointment, neither crypto nor Bitcoin was mentioned throughout the debate. Trump said the current administration had been one of “terrible inflation”, and even accused Harris of a lack of economic policy altogether.

Trump went so far as to call his opponent a Marxist and interestingly blamed her for allegedly copying his policy ideas.

She’s gone to my philosophy now. I was going to send her a MAGA hat. It will be the end of our country. She’s a Marxist, everybody knows she’s a Marxist.

Donald Trump

A recent policy reveal of Harris does not include any mention of crypto, which was widely criticised by the community. Many claim the absence of a Harris policy on crypto will hurt her chances of getting elected.

Analysts at Bernstein even claim that a Trump win would see Bitcoin fly to US$90k (AU$135k), while a Harris win would see it drop to US$30k (AU$45k) or US$40k (AU$60k).

Who Wins Debate? Harris Ahead, Say Most Pundits

As far as the debate itself goes, well…it was interesting to say the least. While Harris seemed a little nervous at first, she quickly got the hang of things.

She even accused Trump of lying several times. Her performance was initially met with a confident-as-usual Trump, but he seemed to grow angrier as the debate progressed.

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Overall, Polymarket, the crypto betting platform, had Trump’s odds fall 3% during the debate while Harris increased hers by the same amount.