The debate came and went without a crypto mention. What now?

While some were hopeful we could hear a crypto question at last night’s debate, that clearly didn’t happen. 

Questions focused mainly on inflation, immigration, abortion and foreign policy — all hot-button issues deserving attention.

While Chamber of Progress financial policy director Kyle Bligen wrote a letter last week urging ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis to “illuminate the candidates’ stances on crypto” during the Tuesday night event, such a question didn’t make the cut. 

Read more: Will Trump and Harris field a crypto question during tonight’s debate?

Tim Kravchunovsky, founder of decentralized telecommunications network Chirp, said the lack of crypto discussion during the debate was disappointing, but not surprising. 

“It was simply proof that crypto is nowhere near as important to either presidential candidate as it is to us in the Web3 world,” Kravchunovsky said in a statement.

In terms of crypto market reaction to the debate, bitcoin dipped by about 2% during and immediately after the debate before paring losses Wednesday. BTC’s price was about $57,700 at 4 pm ET — roughly flat from 24 hours ago.

To date, Trump has vocalized support for US bitcoin mining, vowed to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, said he would stop government sales of seized bitcoin and promised to make the US the “world capital for crypto and bitcoin.” 

While Harris has been quiet on the subject, a policy adviser for her campaign said last month the vice president would “support policies that ensure that emerging technologies and that sort of industry can continue to grow.”

BDE Ventures CEO Brian Evans had told Blockworks that because Harris hadn’t made the type of crypto comments Trump has, any pro-crypto debate remarks from her in particular “might cause a bit of a market bounce.”

She did not make such comments. 

Harris did note that “a policy about China should be in making sure the United States of America wins the competition for the 21st century,” mentioning the importance of winning the race on AI and quantum computing. 

The conversation, though, quickly turned away from technology.

Some industry executives had predicted positive movement for BTC if Trump performed especially well. Many viewers didn’t view that the case, with data from Polymarket showing the odds of a Harris debate victory (according to polls) quickly rising above 90% during the event (and landing at 99% on Wednesday morning).

The odds of Trump and Harris winning the election stood at 49% each after the debate, Polymarket showed, as Harris closed Trump’s pre-debate lead. Trump had regained the slight edge by 4 pm ET, at 50% to 49%.

While more crypto policy details from both candidates could come over the next two months, “we shouldn’t pin all our hopes on politics,” Kravchunovsky noted in the statement.

He added: “The outcome of the US election will for sure have an impact on crypto, but it may not be as profound as many seem to think.” 

As for an upcoming likely market-moving event, industry eyes will be on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision next week.

Read more: The September events that could move markets

CME Group’s FedWatch tool shows an 85% probability of the central bank cutting rates by 25 basis points at its Sept. 18 meeting, and a 15% chance the Fed executes a 50 bps cut.  

A modified version of this article first appeared in the daily On the Margin newsletter. Subscribe here so you don’t miss tomorrow’s edition.

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