The 2024 United States Presidential election has spurred a surge in memecoins linked to candidates from both political parties.
Crypto enthusiasts are closely following the memecoin race, which includes notable figures such as President Joe Biden, who recently dropped out of the race; Vice President Kamala Harris, now campaigning for president in the Democratic Party; former President Donald Trump, who just accepted the Republican Party nomination; and even Trump’s iconic red “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hat.
Let’s explore some trending coins and their performance in light of the latest election news.
Sitting President Biden has inspired numerous memecoins not only related to him but also to his family.
On July 21, Biden’s announcement of stepping down as the Democratic Party nominee and withdrawing from the 2024 election caused a significant stir in the memecoin ecosystem associated with his persona.
Reports indicate that the news liquidated nearly $67 million of leveraged long positions from the crypto market within half an hour, along with a slight dip in Bitcoin’s price.
Additionally, Biden-related coins plummeted by at least 60% in value following the announcement.
The Biden-inspired memecoin Jeo Boden (BODEN) fell by 62% within the first two hours after the news broke.
CoinMarketCap shows that Hunter Biden’s Laptop (LAPTOP) is down nearly 45% from the previous day, while the Jill Boden token (JILLBODEN) has dropped by 82.54% at the time of writing.
Conversely, tokens related to Vice President Harris have experienced a surge due to speculation that Harris might replace Biden as the new Democratic nominee.
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The Kamala Horris (KAMA) token surged dramatically, with a 62% increase compared to the previous day, according to DEXScreener.
Other Democratic personalities have their own tokens, including former President Barack Obama’s OBEMA, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s GRETCH, and California Governor Gavin Newsom’s NOOSUM.
In the political memecoin arena, Trump-themed tokens are prominent. MAGA (TRUMP) is the leading Trump-themed memecoin by market capitalization.
TRUMP has fluctuated in response to recent events, particularly massive gains following the assassination attempt on Trump on July 13.
Speculators anticipate movement tied to Trump’s appearance at the upcoming Bitcoin Conference in Nashville on July 27.
Another Trump-related token, TRUMP’S HAT (MAGA), represents Trump’s MAGA hat. Like the BODEN token, the Doland Tremp (TREMP) memecoin also exists.
Both tokens saw modest price hikes after Biden’s resignation announcement, according to CoinMarketCap.
With Biden’s announcement shocking the market, analysts speculate that his withdrawal could benefit the overall crypto market.
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Jack Booth, marketing director of the Open Network (TON) Foundation, discussed the security measures of TON’s newly introduced Bitcoin bridge.
This bridge will enable users to transfer BTC into the TON ecosystem, facilitating the use of digital assets in decentralized applications (DApps), lending platforms, and other network purposes.
On July 18, the TON Foundation launched its Bitcoin bridge, aligning with its vision to become a “blockchain of blockchains,” integrating leading Web3 services into a unified network.
Blockchain bridges facilitate the transfer of tokens or data between different networks, enhancing interoperability and allowing users to leverage features across blockchains.
However, these bridges have been prone to security vulnerabilities, resulting in significant fund losses, such as the $600 million hacking incident involving the Ronin Bridge in 2022.
Despite these risks, Booth assured the community that TON employs robust security measures to protect Bitcoin transfers within its network.
He explained, “TON Teleport BTC uses a trustless architecture to secure funds while bridging between the Bitcoin network and TON.
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“A Simplified Payment Verification Client (SPVC) has also been implemented as a smart contract on TON. This verifies Bitcoin block states directly on the TON platform.”
Booth emphasized that all key operations, including transaction verification, confirmation, and token issuance, are automated and transparent through smart contracts.
“This means that all activity is recorded on TON Blockchain as soon as it is confirmed,” he said.
Booth also highlighted the bridge’s resistance to private key compromises. He stated that private keys would not be created or held by a single entity.
TON’s Validators generate a joint public key using the Distributed Key Generation (DKG) process and sign transactions with aggregated signatures through the FROST protocol.
“While the FROST protocol ensures that no single participant can produce a valid signature on their own, DKG ensures that the private key is never created or held by a single party,” Booth explained.
Booth believes this decentralized approach enhances security, making the bridge “highly resistant to compromised keys or insider threats” and eliminating a single point of failure.
He noted that private key compromises have led to over $400 million in losses across 42 security incidents in the first half of 2024, according to CertiK data.
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Bitcoin spiked higher on July 19 as Wall Street opened, amid confusion about whether U.S. President Joe Biden would abandon his reelection campaign.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed a resurgent Bitcoin, with BTC/USD challenging one-month highs.
Bitcoin surprised market participants by rising more than 2.5% on the day after previously showing lackluster behavior.
“The market hours for IBIT open at 9.30am ET. Within minutes, Bitcoin shot up from $64K, now above $65K,” Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole Investments, commented on X.
“Did some institution just wake up and decide Bitcoin is a safe haven decentralized store of value as global tech and banking systems fail from Microsoft’s blue screen of death?”
Edwards was referring to the ongoing fallout from an IT collapse involving Microsoft CrowdStrike software, impacting transport, banks, and other businesses worldwide.
Meanwhile, confusion swirled over Biden’s reelection campaign, with conflicting reports on whether he would continue.
Donald Trump, his opponent, had already sparked a crypto market rally last week after surviving an assassination attempt.
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Live data from CoinGlass showed BTC/USD consuming overhead ask liquidity at the time of writing, with short positions beginning to feel the pressure as 24-hour cross-crypto short liquidations neared $170 million.
“BTC 4H trying again after some consolidation,” summarized popular trader Cheds regarding the current short timeframe move.
Trader and analyst Scott Melker, known as the “Wolf Of All Streets,” updated his coverage of Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI), maintaining a bullish outlook.
Optimism also extended to other circles, including trading firm QCP Capital, which speculated that Bitcoin might have completed its post-all-time-high drawdown.
“Price action this week has been rather resilient especially against the backdrop of continued Mt. Gox supply and tanking equities,” QCP wrote in its latest bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers.
“Could this be a sign that the market has shaken off most of its worries?”
QCP added that perpetual futures funding rates were now “back to flat,” with volume “drifting lower and BTC is back in the familiar range of 61k to 71k where it traded within for the entire of Q2 this year.”
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In response to a significant cyberattack, WazirX, one of India’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, has launched a bounty program aimed at freezing and recovering stolen assets.
The exchange detailed several immediate actions in a post on X, including filing a police complaint and reporting the incident to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and CERT-In.
WazirX’s co-founder, Nischal Shetty, also posted separately, stating that the exchange is contacting over 500 other exchanges to block the identified addresses linked to the stolen funds.
“Cooperation from these exchanges is crucial as the stolen assets move through various platforms,” Shetty emphasized.
To incentivize the freezing and recovery of stolen assets, WazirX is preparing a bounty program.
This initiative is part of their broader strategy to enhance efforts in tracing the stolen funds.
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The team is also engaging with expert groups specializing in tracking cryptocurrency transactions to provide continuous monitoring and support during the recovery process.
WazirX expressed gratitude for the support from the broader Web3 ecosystem, highlighting the necessity for a collective effort to resolve the issue and uphold the ethos of Web3 communities.
Shetty noted that the team is currently analyzing data to understand the extent of the damage caused by the attack.
“This analysis is crucial for formulating an effective recovery plan and ensuring that all possible measures are taken to address the impact on customer funds,” Shetty stated.
In addition to internal efforts, WazirX is collaborating with forensic experts and law enforcement agencies to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.
This collaboration aims to ensure justice for the culprits and maximize the recovery of stolen assets.
The WazirX breach resulted in a substantial loss of approximately $235 million, making it the second-largest hack of a centralized exchange in recent times, only surpassed by the DMM exploit on May 31, which saw a loss of $305 million.
Crypto investigator ZachXBT revealed in a Telegram post on the “Investigations by ZachXBT” channel that the alleged main attacker’s wallet still holds over $104 million in funds, which have yet to be offloaded.
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New regulations from South Korea’s financial security regulator, aimed at protecting users buying and storing crypto assets with virtual asset service providers (VASPs), came into effect on July 19.
Named the “Virtual Asset User Protection Act,” the law requires VASPs to implement several measures to safeguard users’ crypto, as outlined in a July 17 statement from South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC).
Key mandates include obtaining insurance against hacking and malicious attacks on user assets, keeping customer crypto assets separate from the exchange’s holdings, and ensuring customer deposits are securely held in banks.
Additionally, VASPs must conduct due diligence to prevent money laundering and report suspicious transactions to the regulator.
“VASPs should maintain a surveillance system for suspicious transactions at all times and immediately report suspicious trading activities to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS),” the statement emphasized.
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“After investigations by the financial and investigative authorities, those found guilty of unfair trading activities may face criminal punishment or penalty surcharge,” it further noted.
Concerns have been raised by South Korean crypto exchanges regarding potential mass delisting of tokens due to the new regulations.
On July 3, Cointelegraph reported that 20 South Korean crypto exchanges plan to review 1,333 cryptocurrencies over the next six months as part of these laws.
According to the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), “the possibility of mass delisting occurring all at once is unlikely.”
In parallel, South Korea’s ruling party, the People’s Power Party, proposed delaying the implementation of the country’s tax on crypto trading profits.
On July 12, the party submitted this proposal, citing deteriorating sentiment towards crypto assets.
They argued that swiftly imposing taxes on virtual assets is “not advisable at this time.”
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The concept of the U.S. government maintaining a Bitcoin strategic reserve could boost its price, but it is unlikely to materialize soon, says Ari Paul, CIO at BlockTower Capital.
“I’d lay 10:1 against the US adding Bitcoin as a strategic reserve in the next 4 years,” Paul noted in a July 18 X post.
He added, “Plausible to me that Trump might say it, which would be very bullish for the BTC medium time frame,” amidst traders’ concerns over Bitcoin struggling to reclaim the $65,000 price level as support.
Paul elaborated that while a future president might declare they won’t sell any of the government’s Bitcoin holdings, this doesn’t equate to establishing a “Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.”
He questioned what would qualify as a declaration, suggesting it could range from an off-the-cuff statement by Trump to an executive order, highlighting that the U.S. government already confiscates Bitcoin in various scenarios.
A strategic reserve refers to a stockpile of resources held by governments for emergencies. For example, the U.S. maintains the largest supply of emergency crude oil, known as the “Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” to mitigate potential oil supply issues.
READ MORE: CrowdStrike CEO Clarifies Downtime Cause: No Security Breach, Stock Drops 15%
Paul’s remarks come amid social media buzz that former President Donald Trump might announce plans to designate Bitcoin as a strategic reserve if he wins the election.
This speculation is tied to an expected announcement during the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville.
“Getting more and more confirmations that these rumours maybe true. Trump to announce a USA Bitcoin strategic reserve in Nashville,” wrote Simon Dixon, founder of BnkToTheFuture, in a July 18 X post.
“People don’t believe the USA could implement a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve but at this point it is inevitable,” stated Dennis Porter, CEO and co-founder of Satoshi Act Fund, on the same day.
Michael Goldstein, president of the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute, added, “Everyone should have a Bitcoin strategic reserve. You. Your family. Your business. Your city. Your state. Your country. Everyone.”
This follows speculation by entrepreneur Mark Cuban that geopolitical instability and inflationary pressures might propel Bitcoin to become a global reserve asset.
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Bitfinex Derivatives has partnered with crypto derivatives exchange Thalex to enhance its service offerings, including options and dated and perpetual futures trading.
This collaboration, now in open beta, allows Bitfinex Derivatives users to access Thalex’s range of crypto options and futures products for trading.
The integration aims to streamline user onboarding, fund deposits, and trading on Thalex. According to a statement shared with Cointelegraph:
“It also represents an innovative distribution model, where exchanges work together to facilitate adoption of specialized products on new platforms such as Thalex.”
Bitfinex Derivatives and Thalex anticipate significant growth in crypto options and dated futures trading.
Currently, options and dated futures represent only 3% and 2% of the daily crypto derivatives volume of $100 billion, respectively.
Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex Derivatives, commented on the public beta launch:
“Crypto derivative products, such as stablecoin-settled futures and options instruments, are critical to ensuring a more stable and orderly market, and we expect considerable demand for these features.”
Both platforms identified a lack of education and dedicated platforms as barriers to the growth of the crypto derivatives market.
They emphasized the need for linear, stablecoin-settled contracts, supported by robust technology and liquidity.
Hendrik Ghys, CEO of Thalex, highlighted the complementary nature of Options and Dated Futures to the Perpetuals ecosystem:
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“Futures enable fixing the cost of carry of a delta position while options provide access to non-linear payoffs and volatility exposure.
“Together, options and futures expand a trader’s toolkit with more ways to hedge or generate yield.”
In related news, Bitfinex Securities announced on July 6 that it would refund investors in its Hilton hotel venture at El Salvador’s international airport.
The project, which aimed to raise $6.25 million through the first public offering of digital debt assets in El Salvador, only garnered $342,000 by the first deadline.
“As per the Relevant Information Document, Bitfinex will be refunding all investors,” a Bitfinex spokesperson confirmed with Cointelegraph.
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According to a report by asset manager ARK Invest released on July 18, Bitcoin became oversold in June due to Germany’s government initiating a multibillion-dollar sell-off of 50,000 BTC seized in a 2020 police sting against Movie2k, a streaming platform for pirated content.
This sell-off caused Bitcoin prices to plummet from highs exceeding $70,000 in early June to a low of less than $55,000 during a brief dip in July.
“Based on short-term-holder realized profits/losses and miner outflows, Bitcoin appears oversold,” the report stated.
The report, which focuses on the period through June 30 but includes more recent data, added, “Current levels [of miner outflows] suggest that miners are capitulating, a harbinger of a bullish reversal.”
Another bullish signal identified by ARK is investors’ sustained appetite for BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The report highlighted that BTC’s sharp sell-off did not trigger a mass exodus from spot BTC ETFs.
By June 30, the drop in BTC’s spot price had overshot the 30-day percent change in BTC ETF flows by 17.3%.
July saw billions of dollars of net inflows into BTC ETFs, with about $1.35 billion entering the funds in the week ending July 15, according to CoinShares.
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BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) recorded $107 million in inflows on July 18 after nine straight days of inflows, according to Thomas Fahrer, co-founder of the crypto data platform Apollo.
Despite these positive signals, there are risks to BTC’s continued strong performance from global economic data.
ARK noted that corporate profits are steadily falling as pricing power diminishes, indicating economic weakness.
Bitcoin prices also face potential challenges from the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox’s repayment of approximately $9 billion in BTC to creditors.
However, unlike Germany’s abrupt sell-off, industry analysts believe that creditors may opt to hold onto their BTC, which could soften any potential negative impact on the broader market.
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The rise of Bitcoin layer-2 (L2) solutions is gaining significant traction across Asia. Chinese miners, who account for over 50% of the Bitcoin network’s hashrate, are increasingly turning to these solutions to create alternative revenue streams, especially following the recent Bitcoin halving.
The Bitcoin halving, which concluded on April 19, reduced mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, making profitability more challenging for miners.
However, Bitcoin L2 technologies offer a lifeline to these network participants. Robbie Liu, head of Asia at Polyhedra Network, told Cointelegraph:
“Bitcoin L2s are not just an innovation; they’re a necessity for the evolving crypto ecosystem in Asia.
“With the recent halving, miners are looking for ways to maintain profitability, and L2 solutions offer just that.”
Liu noted the dominance of Asian projects in the Bitcoin L2 space, such as Singapore-based Bitlayer, which leads in total value locked (TVL).
He also mentioned notable Western projects like Stacks, BOB, and Anduro.
Despite regulatory challenges, Chinese miners remain resilient, with Bitcoin L2s helping them stay profitable through staking. Recent developments in the Bitcoin L2 space include various staking mechanisms, allowing Bitcoin holders to earn additional income without selling their holdings.
Yongjin Kim, CEO of Flipster, highlighted the importance of staking projects like Babylon for capital efficiency, stating:
“In recent years, there has been a market trend in maximizing capital efficiency, where the rise of real-world assets (RWA), security token offerings and restaking protocols are all part of the boat.
“Asia has followed this lead, and the regional Bitcoin community has begun to think about how to maximize capital efficiency on Bitcoin, which has led to the emergence of these L2s.”
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Investor interest in extending Bitcoin’s utility has surged, leading to increased funding for infrastructure development in Asia. Alex Zuo, vice president of Cobo, said:
“The surge of capital into the Bitcoin L2 ecosystem has accelerated infrastructure development in Asia, attracting more developers to Bitcoin L2 projects and expanding the ecosystem beyond peer-to-peer transactions.”
Zuo highlighted the success of Bitcoin L2 projects like Merlin Chain, which amassed over $3.5 billion in TVL within 30 days of its mainnet launch.
Despite the enthusiasm, challenges remain, particularly in asset and security management protocols.
Alvin Kan, COO of Bitget Wallet, pointed to the complexity and risks of managing decentralized systems and cited projects like the Lightning Network, Rootstock, and Liquid Network as initiatives addressing these issues.
Kan predicts significant growth in the Bitcoin L2 ecosystem, driven by trends like the widespread adoption of solutions such as the Lightning Network and the expansion of cross-chain interoperability solutions.
As countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong position themselves as crypto-friendly jurisdictions, Asia is set to lead in Bitcoin L2 innovation, transforming both the Bitcoin network and the broader financial landscape.
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Five spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will start trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange on July 23, “pending regulatory effectiveness,” CBOE announced on July 19.
On May 23, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved rule changes allowing the listing of several spot Ether ETFs.
However, the regulator still needed to approve each fund issuer’s respective S-1 registration statements before the new products could begin trading.
The five spot Ether ETFs set to begin trading are the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF, Fidelity Ethereum Fund, Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF, VanEck Ethereum ETF, and Franklin Ethereum ETF.
To gain an early market advantage, almost all of the ETH ETF issuers plan to temporarily waive or discount fees to compete for market share once trading begins.
Industry analysts have told Cointelegraph that Ether ETFs could attract billions in net inflows in the months following the launch.
Increased demand from institutions looking to fill their exchange-traded funds with Ether could spark a supply crunch.
The Ethereum Exchange Reserve, which tracks the amount of Ether available for purchase on cryptocurrency exchanges, is at multi-year lows.
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A recent Kaiko report also touched on Ether’s 1% market depth and suggested that lower liquidity could lead to increased price volatility, potentially sending the price of Ether higher in response to increased demand and potentially outperforming Bitcoin in percentage terms.
Institutional analyst Tom Dunleavy believes inflows into Ethereum ETFs could reach $10 billion this year and see as much as $1 billion in capital flows per month.
In a recent statement, he told Cointelegraph, “I expect a very positive price impact, sending us to new all-time highs by early Q4.”
Chief investment officer of Bitwise Matt Hougan shared a similar sentiment, explaining that Ethereum stakers were not as inclined to sell their assets as Bitcoin holders.
The Bitwise executive noted that 28% of Ether’s supply was already sequestered and cited increased withdrawals from exchanges to colder forms of storage as another sign that Ether holders expect future price appreciation.
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