Crypto Markets Dip as Traders Speculate On Biden Withdrawal

Most digital assets traded lower on Friday morning as speculation over U.S. President Joe Biden dropping his reelection bid intensified.

Bitcoin and Ether dropped by 1.2% and 2%, respectively, while Solana climbed 1%. All three assets have posted double-digit percentage gains over the past seven days, accelerating higher after last weekend’s assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Trump’s pro-crypto stance has been cheered by crypto investors, and while his odds of winning have dipped slightly from a peak of 72% on July 16, he remains the favorite to win, according to prediction market Polymarket.

Bitcoin ETFs are enjoying another stellar week, with $860 million of inflows in the first four days. BlackRock’s IBIT fund accounts for the bulk of the inflows at nearly $600 million.

In other Bitcoin news, more than half the respondents to a poll in the Mt. Gox insolvency sub-Reddit said that they don’t plan to sell any of their BTC. Creditor repayments are expected in the coming days after the Trustee overseeing the process transferred billions of dollars worth of BTC to designated crypto exchanges, including Kraken.

Among the top 100 digital assets by market capitalization, Ethereum Layer 2 network Mantle is today’s top gainer with a 6% rally. Solana-based memecoins Popcat and Shiba Inu are up 3%.

Meanwhile, the gaming sector is the worst-performing, with Immutable, Beam and Gala Games dropping 5% or more.