‘Blue wave’ hits Bitcoin too, sending it back to prices from three months ago [Crypto Briefing]

[Financial News] The crypto market was also jolted as a ‘blue wave’ emerged in the U.S. midterm elections, with the Democrats taking control of both chambers of Congress. Given the party’s historically negative stance on crypto policy, concerns are mounting that related legislation will face difficulties.
Bitcoin was trading around $74,000 as of 2 p.m. on the 9th, down 1.69% from the previous day (over 24 hours), according to CoinMarketCap, a global crypto information platform. It was down 4.86% over the week. On domestic crypto exchanges, it was trading around 101.6 million won on Upbit, with the Korea premium at 0.62%.
Bitcoin was last around the $74,000 level about three months ago, on August 21. At the time, it had fallen to around $50,000 and was recovering toward the $80,000 range. But a $6.3 billion hack at Binance late last month, along with the midterm elections, left Bitcoin giving up all of its recent gains.
Institutional money is also flowing out. Crypto data firm SoSoValue reported net outflows totaling $1.28 billion from U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) last week (2–6). Spot Bitcoin ETFs had recorded cumulative net inflows of $368 million through the start of last week, but over the course of the week that shifted to cumulative net outflows of about $914.1 million.
Ethereum was also weak, trading at $2,131 on the day, down 4.55%. Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded total net outflows of $365.3 million last week. This marked six consecutive weeks of weekly net outflows since late September, with about $2.02 billion flowing out over that period.
Lee Jun-ho, an analyst at Hana Securities, said, "Since the U.S. midterm elections, we have seen a correction led by technology stocks as well as a shift away from risk assets." He analyzed, "With the Democrats retaking both the House and Senate, the likelihood has risen that progress on crypto-friendly legislation will slow and oversight will tighten after the new Congress takes office next year."
Experts, however, believe the current downturn is temporary. Although the U.S. Democratic Party took a negative stance on crypto policy in the past, the focus then was on ‘investment’; today, the market is concentrating on developing market infrastructure, including tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) and stablecoins.
Sungwook Hong, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities, predicted, "During the Biden administration, the Democrats cracked down on issues such as whether ‘coins’ should be classified as securities. But the industry's focus has now shifted to upgrading capital market infrastructure, leaving little reason for the Democrats to oppose it."
He added, "The crypto-friendly stance of the chairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will also continue. Parting ways with U.S. President Donald Trump, who damaged the industry's image through conflicts of interest, could instead give the industry a chance to make a fresh start."
[email protected] Im Sang-hyeok Reporter