The death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday sparked a flurry of activity in crypto markets and prediction platforms, as traders and bettors sought to profit on the news.
LUCE, a Solana-based meme coin named after the cartoon mascot for the Vatican’s upcoming Holy Year 2025, has jumped about 45% on the day, according to CoinGecko data.
The token is trading at $0.013 and has seen its daily trading volume surge to $60.27 million from $5 million the day before news of the pontiff’s demise hit headlines worldwide.
Despite a warning that it is unaffiliated and unofficial, LUCE has attracted approximately 44,800 holders. It still remains down by about 95% from its November peak of $0.30.
The chart shows a sharp decline of 74% around April 19, before a meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, 20 hours before news of the pope’s death emerged.
Conclave bets
In the Roman Catholic tradition, when a pope dies or resigns, cardinals gather to elect the successor through a secret ballot, known as a papal conclave.
As a result, betting markets have launched around the prospects of papal succession. On Myriad Markets, operated by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, punters have placed Italy’s Cardinal Pietro Parolin in the lead with a 37% probability.
This is followed by the Philippines’ Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle at 27%, with more betting on unnamed others at 34%.
The conclave will be convened within the next three weeks to choose the next leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church.
Born in Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio took the papal name Francis in 2013 when he was elected, becoming the first non-European pope in about 1,300 years.
The young Bergoglio worked as a bouncer at a nightclub in Buenos Aires. At age 36, he led Argentina’s Jesuit congregation. He died at 88 following a stroke and cardiovascular collapse.
Bergoglio had been a vocal critic of technological excesses during his papacy.
In late 2023, he described artificial intelligence as “the highest-stakes gamble of our future” and urged that it be developed to “serve humanity’s best potential.”
Last year, Bergoglio denounced the use of AI in war, saying: “No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being.”
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
