Vice
president
Kamala
Harris’
odds
of
becoming
the
Democratic
nominee
for
president
this
year
more
than
quadrupled
on
Tuesday,
according
to
traders
on
Polymarket,
the
crypto-based
prediction
market
platform
that’s
seen
torrid
growth
in
an
election
year.
“Yes”
shares
in
a
contract
asking
whether
she
will
get
the
nod
traded
as
high
as
31
cents
in
the
afternoon
New
York
time,
indicating
the
market
saw
a
31%
chance
it
will
happen,
up
from
7%
earlier
in
the
day.
The
shares
retraced
some
gains
and
recently
traded
at
23
cents.
Each
share
pays
out
$1
(in
USDC,
a
stablecoin,
or
cryptocurrency
pegged
to
the
U.S.
dollar)
if
the
prediction
comes
true,
and
zero
if
not.
Officially,
President
Joe
Biden
is
still
the
presumptive
Democratic
nominee.
But
many
supporters
are
calling
on
him
to
step
aside,
and
some
of
them
want
Harris
to
step
up
following
her
boss’s
doddering
performance
at
last
week’s
debate
with
former
commander-in-chief
and
almost-certain
Republican
standard-bearer
Donald
J.
Trump.
“We
should
do
everything
we
can
to
bolster
her,
whether
it’s
in
second
place
or
the
top
of
the
ticket,”
Rep.
James
Clyburn,
D-S.C,
said
on
television
Tuesday.
A
Newsweek
op-ed
by
former
Congressman
Tim
Ryan,
the
first
presidential
candidate
to
endorse
Biden
in
2020,
was
more
blunt:
“Kamala
Harris
Should
Be
the
Democratic
Nominee
for
President
in
2024.”
An
analysis
by
The
Wall
Street
Journal
called
Harris
“Biden’s
Likeliest
Replacement.”
The
trend
was
similar
Tuesday
on
PredictIt,
a
more
traditional
prediction
market
platform
where
bets
are
settled
in
dollars
rather
than
crypto.
“Yes”
shares
for
Harris
there
more
than
doubled
to
35
cents.
PredictIt’s
volume
on
the
question
of
who
will
win
the
Democratic
nomination
totals
$31
million,
dwarfed
by
Polymarket
at
$75
million.
Under
a
settlement
with
the
Commodity
Futures
Trading
Commission,
Polymarket
is
barred
from
doing
business
in
the
U.S.,
whereas
PredictIt
is
allowed
to
operate
in
the
country
under
a
regulatory
exemption.
Tuesday
was
Polymarket’s
fifth-largest
volume
day
in
its
four-year
history,
with
$5.7
million
in
trading,
according
to
Dune
Analytics
data.
June
was
the
first
month
Polymarket
saw
more
than
$100
million
in
volume.
Its
largest
contract
by
far,
with
$211
million
in
bets,
asks
who
will
win
the
U.S.
presidency
in
November.
Trump
remains
the
favorite,
with
a
66%
chance
of
victory.
Meanwhile,
KAMA,
a
meme
coin
named
after
the
vice
president,
rallied
Tuesday,
more
than
doubling
in
price
over
24
hours
to
$0.007815.
