The market this morning

Democrats sweep Congress as crypto markets rally and the industry rethinks Washington

By Crypto Info News

Good morning. Democrats won control of Congress in the US midterms, and the crypto industry spent Wednesday reassessing its position in Washington. The Block reported that after two years of a pro-crypto, pro-innovation climate, the sector faces a sharp political jolt and must rethink its strategy. CoinDesk reported that tokenization and stablecoins may continue under existing laws, though experts told the outlet that the SEC and CFTC face tougher oversight and questions over how long their rules will last.

The result landed hard on the industry's political machine. Cointelegraph reported that crypto super PACs spent more than $176 million on the midterms, and that the sweep raises the prospect of tougher scrutiny, with attention already turning to a 2028 "new map." CoinDesk reported that Fairshake, the industry's primary campaign arm, saw more than a third of its spending fail to hit the mark, especially in Ohio. Not everyone forecasts retreat: CoinDesk reported that Grayscale expects global demand and institutional adoption to sustain the industry despite the setback, while BlackRock sees little impact on its crypto business.

Markets did not follow the political mood. The Block reported that Bitcoin rebounded past $80,000 and that Bitwise described the Binance hack as having limited market impact. On Wednesday, Bitcoin stood at $80,442.71, up 3.95% over 24 hours, and Ether at $2,423.08, up 6.57%. Cointelegraph reported that the official Trump and World Liberty Financial tokens were the two biggest losers among the top 100 cryptocurrencies on Wednesday. Glassnode reported that Bitcoin has pulled back about 10% from its September high and that short-term holders have shifted from nearly all in profit to mostly at a loss.

Security stayed in focus. Chainalysis reported that Binance disclosed a DPRK fake-employment scheme behind the heist, which Chainalysis put at $6 billion; Decrypt described the same event as a $6.4 billion hack, so the figure differs between the two. Decrypt reported that Coinbase told customers it was unaffected and keeps over 99% of assets offline. Cointelegraph reported that Mercado Bitcoin will begin a phased reopening on Monday and pledged to cover losses, with withdrawals and trading suspended pending checks, and separately that BitMart's founder called his security team "severely understaffed."

Also worth watching: Decrypt reported on Matt Corallo's case for Bitcoin's next soft fork as a practice run, and Cointelegraph published guidance on Australia's 2027 capital gains tax changes.