(CoinDesk)

Bettors had a busy night on #Polymarket after the night began with an unexpected handshake between the candidates.

The market had pegged the chance of a handshake at roughly 30%, with around $360,000 on the line. Trump and Harris shook hands as the night began – something that didn’t happen since the first 2016 debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Polymarket contract late Thursday EDT (Polymarket)

Polymarket contract late Thursday EDT (Polymarket)

Bettors were quite skeptical that #crypto or #bitcoin would get mentioned during the evening, placing the chances of it happening at 26% for Trump and 14% for Harris.

One user going by the handle "trumpisreal" won over $10,000 in the stablecoin $USDC by correctly guessing that Trump would mention “Springfield” and “Cat,” a reference to debunked claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating pets. The debate moderator pointed out that city officials said there was no evidence of that happening.

On the Harris side, bettors took home money early in the evening when the Democratic candidate mentioned “Project 2025” and “Artificial Intelligence” in the first moments of the debate.

Polymarket contract late Thursday EDT (Polymarket)

Polymarket contract late Thursday EDT (Polymarket)

Bettors are confident that polls will say that Harris had won the debate, putting it at 98%, and giving a 59% chance that Harris will be the Polymarket election contract favorite the day after the debate. Harris will be the confirmed debate winner on the contract if an Ipsos/538 opinion poll taken the same day indicates she had a better performance.

Overall, there is nearly $860 million bet on the presidential election. $BTC