PolitiFi tokens surge in popularity as US elections approach; Trump meme coins see higher returns

Key Takeaways

• MAGA token surged 51% after Trump's shooting, reflecting increased crypto speculation on US elections.
• VanEck's SOL ETF filing is viewed as a bet on the presidential election outcome.

Crypto traders are increasingly using PolitiFi tokens to speculate on the US presidential campaign, with tokens linked to former president Donald Trump seeing significant price fluctuations. According to a recent Kaiko report, the MAGA token surged 51% in two hours following Trump’s shooting on Saturday, mirroring an increase in shares of Trump’s Media Technology Group (DJT).

Notably, weekly trading volume for MAGA has risen from $10-15 million in February to a peak of $120 million in June, indicating growing market interest. However, these tokens have shown little predictive value so far.

The first notorious figure to advocate for PolitiFi tokens was Andrew Kang, founder of the venture capital fund Mechanism Capital. Kang explained in an X post from February that meme coins related to Trump could rival known tokens from this sector, such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

“This bet is not just on whether Trump wins or not. Polling indicates that he’s very likely to win but that’s not the point the point is that he’s going to be in headlines everywhere all the time and ppl are constantly going to be talking about Trump,” said Kang back then.

Moreover, Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, said his firm’s spot Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing was a bet on the election. The SEC has until March 2025 to respond to VanEck’s filing, leaving limited time for a potential new administration to be appointed if President Biden loses the election.

Historically, it has taken an average of 117 days for new presidents to appoint an SEC Chairperson, with Barack Obama’s seven-day appointment of Mary Schapiro during the global financial crisis being an exception.