Markets
Polymarket Goes Crazy as Biden Drops Out of Race, Endorses Kamala Harris
After weeks of mounting pressure from Democrats, President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and will not seek reelection. He will, however, finish out his term.
“While it is my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to resign and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a letter. posted on Twitter (also called X).
Biden said he would “address the nation” later this week about the move. He thanked his vice president Kamala Harris in the letter, and then in a separate tweetsupported her as the Democratic presidential candidate.
“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement to Kamala as our party’s nominee this year,” he wrote. “Democrats, it’s time to unite and beat Trump. Let’s do it.”
Polymarket, the leading cryptocurrency prediction platform, saw wild swings in odds following the news, with Harris’ chances of secure the Democratic nomination increasing to 82%. In a potential electoral clashTrump currently leads on Polymarket with a 64% chance, while Harris is currently at 31%. However, Polymarket bettors have Harris ahead of Trump popular votewith a 43% chance against Trump’s 42%.
The news initially saw the Democratic Party’s chances of winning the election plummet on Polymarket, before stabilizing at 36%. THE Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Marketplace positioned Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as the frontrunner for the job, with a 32 percent share, with the next closest contender, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, at 25 percent.
THE Bitcoin price showed volatility when the news broke, briefly falling below $66,000 before recovering to $67,000, remaining stable throughout the day, according to data from CoinGecko.
PolitiFi meme coins reacted surprisingly quickly to the news, with the Jeo Boden (BODEN) token to dive by nearly 50% and the Harris-themed Kamala Horris (KAMA) token soaring by more than 125% in one day.
Additional reports from Stephen’s Graves.