Kamala Harris-themed meme coin, Kamala Horris (KAMA), surged by 670% after President Biden’s very lackluster debate performance. Meanwhile, Biden’s meme coin, Jeo Boden (BODEN), plummeted by more than 70% over the same time period. This comes as polls indicate growing doubts about Biden's re-election viability. On prediction platforms, Harris’ chances of becoming the Democratic nominee have also increased a lot. Meanwhile, BitMEX launched the MEMEMEXTUSDT Basket Index, exposing traders to the top meme coins in the market.
Kamala Harris Meme Coin Soars
A Kamala Harris-themed meme coin surged by almost 670% over the past week as President Joe Biden faced increasing pressure to withdraw from the presidential race after a very lackluster debate performance against Donald Trump. The token, Kamala Horris (KAMA), also saw its market cap rise from $3.5 million at the time of the June 27 debate to about $11.9 million, according to Dex Screener.
KAMA 7d price chart (Source: CoinGecko)
Reuters reported that many people currently consider Harris as the top choice to replace Biden if he decided to exit the race. It seems like multiple senior sources in the Biden campaign, the White House, and the Democratic National Committee agree with this.
In contrast, the meme coin for President Biden, Jeo Boden (BODEN), plummeted by over 24% in the past 24 hours of trading and by 73% over the past week, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The token suffered major losses after the presidential debate where Biden's performance was widely criticized by political analysts. Biden, at 81 years old, is the oldest person to run for president and attributed his debate struggles to a cold, over-preparing, and jet lag.
BODEN 7d price chart (Source: CoinMarketCap)
Just like BODEN’s price, president Biden's poll numbers are steadily declining, and pressure mounts for him to step down from the presidential race as people are concerned about his ability to defeat Trump in the upcoming election. A FiveThirtyEight poll shows Trump leading by 2.3 percentage points.
Additionally, a July 3 poll by the New York Times and Siena College reveals that three-quarters of voters believe Biden is too old for the presidency, which is a five-point increase since the debate. A July 2 CNN poll also indicates that three-quarters of voters think the Democrats would have a better chance of winning with a different candidate.
Kamala Harris' Nominee Odds Quadruple on Polymarket
Vice President Kamala Harris' chances of becoming the Democratic nominee for president this year more than quadrupled on Tuesday, according to traders on Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market platform.
"Yes" shares in a contract asking if she will receive the nomination traded as high as 31 cents in the afternoon. This indicates that people think there is a 31% chance of this happening, up from 7% earlier in the day. Each share pays out $1 in USDC if the prediction comes true, and zero if not.
President Joe Biden is still the presumptive Democratic nominee officially. However, there is increasing pressure from supporters for him to step aside, with some advocating for Harris to take his place. Representative James Clyburn stated, "We should do everything we can to bolster her, whether it’s in second place or the top of the ticket."
Former Congressman Tim Ryan also recently bluntly stated, "Kamala Harris should be the Democratic Nominee for President in 2024." An analysis by The Wall Street Journal also pointed to Harris as "Biden’s Likeliest Replacement."
The trend was similar on PredictIt, a more traditional prediction market platform, where "Yes" shares for Harris more than doubled to 38 cents. PredictIt's volume for the Democratic nomination question totals $31 million, compared to Polymarket's $75 million.
Who will win the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination? (Source: PredictIt)
Under a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Polymarket is banned from doing business in the U.S., while PredictIt operates under a regulatory exemption.
Tuesday, July 2, was Polymarket's fifth-largest volume day in its four-year history, with $5.7 million in trading, according to Dune Analytics data. June was also the first month Polymarket exceeded $100 million in volume. The platform's largest contract, with $211 million in bets, asks who will win the U.S. presidency in November, with Trump remaining the favorite at a 62% chance of victory.
Organizers Still Optimistic About Dogwifhat Vegas Sphere Deal
In other meme coin news, the organizers of a crowdfunding campaign that raised almost $700,000 in March to display the mascot of Solana meme coin Dogwifhat (WIF) on the Las Vegas Sphere are still optimistic about the deal despite delays. Mihir, one of the five organizers, stated that he is “90% confident” the campaign will showcase the mascot on the Sphere for a week will proceed.
Representatives from the Sphere have created new “crypto-specific” terms after learning of the campaign and are holding internal meetings to develop their crypto-related policies. Mihir mentioned ongoing work to meet the Sphere's criteria and requirements, though he did not share any specific details to avoid influencing the price of WIF.
Despite some concerns from contributors on social media about the campaign’s progress and the handling of funds if negotiations fail, Mihir assured people that all funds would be repaid if the deal falls through. He also addressed some rumors about potential copyright issues with the mascot image, stating that they are working with the owners of the dog, Achi, who are supportive of the meme. Mihir also stated that Achi’s owners loaned them a remake of the original pink knitted hat from the image.
Some of the original crowdfunding campaign organizers include prominent crypto trader Ansem and four other pseudonymous members of the WIF community.
Mihir’s optimism is certainly not reflected in the price of WIF. At press time, WIF was trading hands at $1.78 after its price dropped by more than 10% over the past 24 hours. The price of the meme coin is also down by 11+% on the weekly time frame.
BitMEX Launches Meme Coin Basket Index
Meanwhile, BitMEX has introduced the MEMEMEXTUSDT Basket Index Perpetual Swap Contract, which allows traders to get exposure to the top 10 meme coins through a single contract. The index is a weighted average price of the top 10 meme coins by market cap, rebalanced monthly to track the best-performing coins. This USDT-margined linear perpetual swap offers up to 25x leverage.
According to BitMEX CEO Stephan Lutz, the MEMEMEXTUSDT perpetual swap simplifies meme coin trading, providing diversification and risk management similar to the S&P 500 for crypto meme coins. The new contract also plans to improve liquidity, which will allow traders to execute trades at more favorable prices.
The MEMEMEXTUSDT contract has the following specifications: the symbol is MEMEMEXTUSDT, the margin currency is USDT, each contract represents 0.0001 MEMEMEXT, and the lot size is 1000. The maker fee is -0.015%, and the taker fee is 0.075%. The base initial margin is 4.00%, and the base maintenance margin is 2.00%.
To celebrate the launch, BitMEX is offering a prize pool of up to $10,000 in USDT for traders using the MEMEMEXTUSDT contract, with top performers receiving a share of the prize.
