The
old
saying
“any
publicity
is
good
publicity”
appears
to
hold
true
for
memecoins.
Even
the
flimsiest
kind
of
publicity.
Jeo
Boden
(BODEN),
a
joke
crypto
token
referring
to
a
misspelling
of
U.S.
President
Joe
Biden’s
name,
surged
as
much
as
25%
Wednesday
after
his
Republican
challenger,
former
president
Donald
Trump,
responded
to
a
fan’s
question
about
it.
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-and-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’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.
CORRECTION
(May
9,
02:38
UTC):
Corrects
fourth
paragraph
to
say
that
Trump
was
doing
a
Q-and-A
with
the
audience,
not
a
press
conference.
Danny
Nelson
contributed
reporting.