Donald Trump's Memecoin Soars 52% After Latest Events

The latest attempt has raised Trump’s election probability on prediction markets.  

The largest Donald Trump-themed memecoin, MAGA (TRUMP), showed a stunning 52% increase in price after an assassination attempt on the former president at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  

The Ethereum-based MAGA memecoin spiked its price from $6.31 to $10.36 soon after the happening and skyrocketing its total market capitalisation from $293 million to $469 million in less than 45 minutes, according to DexScreener.  

It also led to an increase in the price of several other Trump-themed memecoins. For example, a Solana memecoin named Tremp (TREMP) surged by more than 63% in the first hour after the news, and another memecoin dubbed MAGA Hat (MAGA) also rose by 21% within the same time frame.  

Image: MAGA memecoin price movement following ex-US President Donald Trump's assassination attempt, by DexScreener

The incident occurred on the 13th of July during a rally where former US President Donald Trump was in the course of giving a speech when several shots from a then-unknown direction shot at him while he was still on the stage. Mr Trump grabbed his ear and fell on the floor with the U.S. Secret Service agents rushing to shield him. On his way out of the stage, Trump stopped, made a fist, and cheered at the audience.  

After the unpleasant event, a representative of the Trump campaign told the Associated Press that the former president was doing well and was receiving medical exams at a nearby hospital.  

“President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act,” spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility. More details will follow.”

Trump’s Election Probability Spikes

The assassination attempt also appeared to have positively influenced Trump’s election probabilities. People trading on the prediction market Polymarket responded swiftly; the likelihood of Trump’s win in the next election went up from 60% to 75% right after the incident, data from Polymarket reveal.  

Likewise, the probability of the current US President, Joe Biden, being re-elected decreased considerably. Thus, at the moment, Trump is the favourite in the prediction market, with an overall odds of 74%, Biden has only 17%, and Vice President Kamala Harris has 9%.  

Recommended Read: Will 2024 Elections Affect the Crypto Industry?

Previously, Trump had not shown much interest in cryptocurrencies, but he appeared to have a new perception of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. On June 14, he vowed to stop what he termed the Biden administration's ‘war on crypto’ should he win the presidency. This was quite different from what Trump had said in the past, where he made numerous negative comments about Bitcoin, saying it was “like a scam.”  

This was not the first time that Trump had slammed Biden for his rather anti-cryptocurrency agenda during the presidential campaign; in particular, on May 26, Trump stressed that the U.S. should not be satisfied with anything less than being the leader in the cryptocurrency space.