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Bitcoin Pulls Under $68K as Crypto Markets Falter Ahead of Election

At least according to betting markets, the U.S. presidential election has moved to nearly a 50/50 race versus the outlook for an easy Trump victory just days ago.

Updated Nov 3, 2024, 12:49 p.m. Published Nov 3, 2024, 12:27 p.m.
ABC News Hosts Presidential Debate Between Donald Trump And VP Kamala Harris At The National Constitution Center In Philadelphia
ABC News Hosts Presidential Debate Between Donald Trump And VP Kamala Harris At The National Constitution Center In Philadelphia

"Markets hate uncertainty," goes an old Wall Street saw.

Just about 96 hours ago, the price of bitcoin (BTC) was within a few dollars of breaking through its all-time high above $73,700, perhaps helped along by a surge in momentum for crypto-friendly GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

At that time, Trump's victory chances on betting market Polymarket had risen to as high as 67% (with his opponent Kamala Harris' chances dropping to a corresponding 33%).

Since, though, Trump's odds have been falling, as has the price of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. At one point overnight, the former president's victory chances declined to less than 53% (with Harris rising to above 47%). Alongside, bitcoin fell to as low as $67,600. At press time, during the U.S. morning hours Sunday, both Trump and bitcoin have come back a bit, with Trump sitting at 56% and bitcoin at $68,300, lower by more than 2% over the past 24 hours.

The broader CoinDesk 20 Index is down 2.3% over the same time frame, with Cardano (ADA) and Avalance (AVAX) notable underperformers, each off nearly 6%.

"It's crazy how correlated bitcoin price action is to Trump's election odds," wrote analyst Miles Deutscher on X.

Stephen Alpher

Stephen is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He previously served as managing editor at Seeking Alpha. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Stephen went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, majoring in finance. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.

picture of Stephen  Alpher