The death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025 has already had an impact on the cryptocurrency market, albeit not in the traditional sense. This is mainly manifested through activity on betting platforms and speculation around meme coins.

📉 Crypto market reaction to the death of Pope Francis

1. Polymarket: betting on the new Pope

On the decentralized betting platform Polymarket, users actively bet on whether a new Pope would be elected in 2025. After Francis’ death, the probability of this increased from 33% to 99%, which led to significant payouts for some traders. One of them, under the nickname “syncope”, earned over $11,500 on this event. 

2. Meme coins: LUCE, FRANCIS, POPE

Immediately after the news of the Pope’s death, new meme coins associated with his name appeared. For example, the LUCE token (inspired by the Vatican’s symbolism) jumped 134% in price. Other tokens such as FRANCIS, POPE, and RIP POPE have also been launched and have experienced short-term gains. 

⚠️ What does this mean for investors?

While such events can cause short-term spikes in market activity, they do not have a fundamental impact on major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.