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They say art reflects culture. If that’s true, then memecoins reflect the baser instincts: greed, hunger, self-preservation and the human urge to buy the bottom to sell the top.
So too, then, must memecoins invoking political figures gauge sentiment for their avatars ahead of the US presidential election later this year.
There’s only four tokens in the “PolitiFi” category with measurable market caps, according to CoinGecko.
Memecoins joe boden (BODEN) and MAGA (TRUMP) make up 99.7% of that value, while others include a ragtag bunch of spinoff Trump tokens and one for Argentina’s fiery new president, Javier Milei.
Neither Republican or Democrats have confirmed nominees but incumbent Joe Biden and former US president Donald Trump are widely presumed to be running against each other again in November.
Read more: In latest cash grab, Trump mixes NFTs and political cultism
BODEN launched on Solana less than one month ago and is already valued at twice TRUMP’s cap — $487 million to TRUMP’s $222 million. TRUMP was first issued on Ethereum in late August last year.
The big two PolitiFi tokens have multiplied in price 10 and 20 times over this year, and all things considered, are some of the best performing on the market — albeit one clearly preoccupied with memecoins.
Realistically, the success of BODEN probably has little to do with widespread positive sentiment about the actual guy.
BODEN memes make Joe look feeble, old and silly. Perhaps BODEN going up makes those attributes official in the minds of crypto, in which case positive price action isn’t exactly a positive. It’s also likely a product of the Solana memecoin bonanza which has provided BONK and WIF.
Polymarket currently has Trump beating Biden by 47% to 44% in November, if they’re both to run.
Interestingly, betters say Biden will win the popular vote in a landslide: 63% to 28%, which would more reflect what the memecoins are saying.
Both hold similar approval ratings in the real world, according to FiveThirtyEight, with Trump having the edge.