Polymarket users wager on Harris defeating Trump
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris pulled ahead of Republican runner Donald Trump on Polymarket, a Polygon-powered decentralized prediction market.
Less than a month ago, Trump led the pack of U.S. presidential aspirants and was the presumptive electoral winner. Surviving an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and delivering a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve speech in Nashville boosted Trump’s odds to over 70% on Polymarket.
Much has changed since then, and Trump’s victory now seems uncertain, at least according to users of the on-chain prediction platform. Harris now holds a 52% chance of winning the November elections, compared to Trump’s 46%. The remaining 2% is spread across other options, including individual candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Skepticism surrounds Trump’s ability to execute his promised crypto policies, while even less is known about Harris’ approach to the nascent world of digital assets. On one hand, Trump and Republican politicians like Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis propose retaining America’s Bitcoin stockpile. Lummis’ bill also includes provisions for buying more Bitcoin.
Harris recently announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, a move that has drawn criticism from crypto industry stakeholders as being anti-crypto. Figures like VanEck’s head of digital asset research, Matthew Sigel, highlighted that Walz previously lobbied for tighter crypto oversight to protect U.S. financial stability.
Crypto proponents also expressed doubts about the future of blockchain technology should Democrats secure a second consecutive term in the White House.
The ongoing so-called “Operation Choke Point 2.0” has sparked outcry from the Web3 ecosystem. Regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have unleashed a widespread clampdown on several crypto businesses, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Ripple.
Furthermore, the crypto industry has criticized moves to debank digital asset businesses and cut off blockchain services from the traditional financial system. Last week, the Federal Reserve scrutinized crypto-friendly Customers Bancorp, Inc., and its subsidiary, Customers Bank, over compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering rules.
