'Boden' Memecoin Surges After Trump Quips About It
"I don't like that investment," former U.S. President Donald Trump said of a token mocking his rival, Joe Biden. Trump also said he's open to cryptocurrency donations.
May 9, 2024 at 2:05 a.m. UTC
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The old saying "any publicity is good publicity" appears to hold true for memecoins. Even the flimsiest kind of publicity.
The real estate mogul, reality TV star and populist firebrand was hosting the Trump Cards NFT Gala for holders of the digital collectibles that bear his name and likeness. A few hundred people were in attendance at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
"I don't like that investment," Trump said at an impromptu audience Q&A after an attendee described BODEN to him and said it had a $240 million market capitalization.
After peaking at $0.42, BODEN fluctuated and at press time was trading at $0.40, still up about 15% from when Trump made his comment (such as it was).
Trump crypto donations?
Trump's presidential campaign is not currently accepting donations in cryptocurrency, but he said at the impromptu gathering he intends to.
When asked, "Can we donate using crypto?" the almost-certain GOP nominee responded, "If you can't, I'll make sure you can."
Meanwhile, on Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction market platform, trading remained flat Wednesday in the contract "Will Trump mention $boden before July?"
The contract defines a "mention" as either "a verbal usage of the word 'boden' specifically in reference to the cryptocurrency" or "any written usage of the word 'boden' published through Trump's social media or other official communication channels."
His quip didn't fit the bill, and "yes" shares in the contract, which will pay out $1 if he utters the word "Boden" by July 1, were little changed at $0.05 – meaning traders are giving 5% odds that he will say the word.
CORRECTION (May 9, 2024, 02:38 UTC): Corrects fourth paragraph to say that Trump was doing a Q&A with the audience, not a press conference.
Danny Nelson contributed reporting.
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Marc Hochstein is the executive editor of Consensus, CoinDesk's flagship event. He holds BTC above CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1K and de minimis amounts of other digital assets (details on profile page).