Bitcoin near $78,600, Ethereum at $2,300 as US midterm results put crypto regulation in focus

Bitcoin trades near the $78,000 mark on Wednesday amid institutional outflows and macroeconomic uncertainty. The cryptocurrency was trading at the $78,330 mark, and Ethereum was trading at $2,317.

In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin and Ethereum were up 1.87% and 2.41%, respectively. Among the major altcoins, BNB, XRP, Solana, Hyperliquid, Dogecoin, and Cardano gained up to 2.66%, whereas Tron was down 0.13%.

Riya Sehgal, Research Analyst, Delta Exchange said early results from the November 3 US midterm elections have increased focus on Congressional control and future crypto regulation, and the outcome could influence renewed efforts to advance the CLARITY Act, which failed to clear a Senate procedural vote in September.



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Markets are also monitoring Friday’s US employment report, Federal Reserve rate expectations, oil prices and technology stocks for direction. Looking ahead, volatility could persist as markets assess election results and macroeconomic developments, Sehgal further said.


The global crypto market capitalisation went up 1.81% to $2.62 trillion, according to the CoinMarketCap data.


Avinash Shekhar, Co-Founder & CEO, Pi42 said Bitcoin is trading around the 76,000-77,000 range as the broader cryptocurrency market continues to face selling pressure amid cautious investor sentiment and uncertainty around global liquidity conditions.


The market's near-term direction will largely depend on institutional inflows, liquidity developments and broader macroeconomic signals, he further added.


Over the last week, Bitcoin fell 3.73%, and Ethereum was down 2.09%. Among the major altcoins, BNB, XRP, Solana, Tron, Dogecoin, and Cardano declined up to 9.42%, whereas Hyperliquid gained 5.46%.


Nischal Shetty, Founder, WazirX, said crypto markets showed signs of stabilisation, although broader sentiment remained cautious and the US midterm results put the pace of crypto policymaking in focus.


Shetty further said that the Fear and Greed Index registered 34, indicating fear, while the Altcoin Season Index stood at 46, suggesting no decisive shift towards broad-based altcoin outperformance.

Market perspective


CoinSwitch Markets Desk: Traders remain cautious over the potential election outcome and its implications for future crypto regulations. Such pessimism could also support a short-term recovery if buying interest returns. A sustained move above $79K could strengthen recovery prospects, while a decline below $76K may lead to further downside in the near term.
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Prateek Gupta, Head of Business, Mudrex: Institutional demand remains weak, with US spot Bitcoin ETFs seeing another $399 million in outflows on Monday, following Friday’s $643 million withdrawal. Strategy continued buying, adding 811 BTC worth $65.5 million, while also repurchasing $208.2 million of its STRC preferred shares.

Vikram Subburaj, CEO, Giottus: Bitcoin remains under pressure as renewed ETF outflows, uncertain economies, and the Binance security incident weigh on investor confidence. The Federal Reserve’s October rate decision has not eased concerns about further tightening. Uncertainty around the December outlook and upcoming US economic data continues to weigh on risk appetite.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)