Trump or Biden? Twitter Reacts to Bitcoin-Free Presidential Debate

Last night, the first debate for the 2024 U.S. presidential election took place between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. News outlets reported a "stumbling" performance from the incumbent President, matched with many falsehoods from his challenger.

As the debate neared, there was speculation that crypto would be on the agenda—but that wasn't ultimately the case.

Michael Saylor, founder of the pro-Bitcoin firm MicroStrategy, tweeted a poll in which 69% of people who voted—admittedly drawn from a pool of his largely Bitcoin-inclined followers—thought that BTC would be discussed.

Clearly, the crypto community was excited, with blockchain advocacy group Stand With Crypto even sending out pizzas to groups gathering to watch the debate.

Meanwhile, Crypto Twitter's degen community geared up to trade meme coins during the debate.

"If y'all don't send me the tickers from this debate [tonight], I'm auto-assuming we aren’t homies," meme coin trader SolJakey said on Twitter, before posting a photo of him watching the debate in a Tesla with DEX Screener open.

The debate kicked off and the two presidential candidates wound up discussing their respective golf games after being asked about the quality of childcare in the United States. Pseudonymous crypto influencer Ansem saw the humorous side of it, while others found it frustrating that the pair were talking about trivial topics and avoiding the bigger issues.

As the debate continued, Biden's performance was called into question.

And soon enough, the Solana-based Biden meme coin, Jeo Boden, started to fall.

But some believed that investors had misunderstood the meme. It wasn't so much that Biden would be a good debater, it's that he would produce funny moments.

Equally, the inverse was true. As Biden's woes mounted, Crypto Twitter showed support for Trump-related meme coins.

One investor said he started feeling bad for Biden, but couldn't forget how anti-crypto the SEC has been under his rule.

Around this time, Crypto Twitter started speculating that Biden would be replaced.

"The Democrats MUST run a different candidate than President Joe Biden," Mike Dudas, founder of crypto venture fund 6th Man Ventures said on Twitter. "This is truly a national emergency."

Ryan Selkis, the pro-Trump founder and CEO of Messari, echoed that vibe, calling it a "national security issue" and calling for the 25th amendment to be used to remove Biden due to a declaration of inability to perform the job.

When the debate finished, Crypto Twitter seemed surprised that its favorite industry hadn't been mentioned. It appeared at time that crypto would become a key battleground for the campaigns. But some speculated that maybe the issue isn't as big as the crypto community believed it was.

Who won the debate? Many crypto degens bet with their money on Trump, though he is clearly the more pro-crypto of the candidates. Trump's chances of victory surged on Polymarket as the debate finished, with degens wagering $7 million on Joe Biden dropping out of the race.

Edited by Stacy Elliott and Andrew Hayward