With less than two weeks to go until the 2024 US presidential election, the Republican presidential candidate Trump and the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris are in a tight race in the polls, and the billionaires Elon Musk (a Bitcoin enthusiast) and Mark Cuban, who are on the sides of the two candidates respectively, are also in an increasingly intense confrontation.
As a Bitcoin enthusiast, Mark Cuban said in an interview with CNBC's Squawk Box on Monday (21st) that Kamala Harris' opposition to Elon Musk is roughly equivalent to her opposition to Trump, and he even said that this election is a "confrontation between Kamala Harris' campaign team and Musk, not with Trump".
Further Reading: Mark Cuban: Kamala Harris Asked Me a Bunch of 'Cryptocurrency' Questions, Will Be More Open to Web3 Than Biden
Kamala Harris Refuses to Speak with Elon Musk Because He is Too 'Big Mouth'
Mark Cuban said on Tuesday that he had tried to arrange a private meeting between Musk and Kamala Harris, but Kamala Harris' team refused, saying they were willing, but they did not believe Musk would keep the conversation confidential. He also said on Monday that Kamala Harris' campaign team believed Musk would say something "distorted" about the purpose of the meeting on X.
He said that Musk's statements about Kamala Harris were too outrageous, but he believed that it would be beneficial for them to talk to each other.
Mark Cuban also pointed out that he believes that even if Kamala Harris wins the election, she can still have a friendly relationship with Musk, and he is still trying to establish a dialogue between the two, because Musk is one of "the best entrepreneurs", and he added that this is not political, but a matter of "common sense".
In response, Musk tweeted on Monday night:
I would be happy to have an in-person conversation [with Kamala Harris] so there would be no "distortion".
Further Reading: Musk: If Trump Loses to Kamala Harris, I Might Go to Prison and X (Twitter) Will Immediately Bankrupt
Trump Leads Kamala Harris by 27% on Polymarket
Whether Kamala Harris can successfully communicate with the crypto-friendly Musk before the election is still unknown, but industry insiders believe that if Kamala Harris is willing to spend the little time left before the election to communicate more with the crypto-friendly camp, the crypto market may not necessarily see a big rally as it currently predicts a Trump victory.
In addition, it is worth noting that despite the continued tug-of-war between the two sides, some of the latest polls show that Trump is leading in several key swing states in the US, and on the decentralized prediction market Polymarket, Trump's lead over Kamala Harris has continued to widen, with the latest data showing that Trump has a 67% chance of winning, 27.5 percentage points higher than Kamala Harris.
However, Nate Silver, a statistician who serves as an advisor to Polymarket, commented this month that the population on these prediction market websites that leans towards Trump may distort the data, causing Trump's odds to be higher than reasonable.
Polymarket to Strengthen Restrictions on US Users, Targeting Pro-Trump Whale
Today, Bloomberg cited informed sources reporting that Polymarket is re-examining its platform user data to ensure that users are from outside the US, in compliance with US regulations. Particularly as bets on a Trump victory have surged this month, this popular prediction market is focusing on scrutinizing the pro-Trump whale.
A blockchain analysis report published by FozzyDiablo and Domahhhh, and confirmed by the blockchain research firm Arkham Intelligence, shows that the four largest pro-Trump whale accounts on Polymarket, including Fredi9999 and three others, are likely controlled by the same person or entity. Currently, the total betting expenditure of these four accounts in support of a Republican victory exceeds $43 million. Informed sources revealed that these accounts are not located in the US.
It is understood that although the platform does not allow US citizens to bet, many people use VPN tools to bypass the platform's restrictions.