Bitcoin and ether fell to their lowest prices in more than two months in late Sunday trading, as investors worried that a Democratic-controlled United States Congress will take a much tougher line on cryptocurrency regulation after last week's midterm elections.
Bitcoin, the oldest and largest cryptocurrency by market value, fell by more than 2 percent to $73,708, its lowest price since August, according to Reuters. Ether fell about 5 percent to $2,223 over the same period, also its lowest since August. The slide continued into early Monday, with Bitcoin briefly dropping to $73,510 before recovering to trade above $75,000, while ether touched a low of $2,060, according to KuCoin's daily market report.
The trigger was political rather than technical. Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterm elections on November 3, and traders are now pricing in a harder road for the crypto-friendly legislation the industry had been counting on. The industry-backed CLARITY Act, a bill that would set federal rules for crypto markets, had already stalled in the Senate in September, and the new Congress does not take over until January 2027 — but markets moved on the expectation of what comes next, not on any law that has actually been passed.
The sell-off was violent in the leveraged market. About $803 million in crypto positions were liquidated in the space of four hours during the early Monday drop, mostly long positions, KuCoin reported, and CoinGlass data cited in market coverage put 24-hour liquidations at roughly $856 million. When leveraged traders are forced out in a falling market, their sales push prices lower still, which is why the move was so sharp even though no new regulation had been announced.
Institutional demand also looks cautious. United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded about $412 million in net outflows on Friday, bringing the weekly total to around $1.28 billion, according to KuCoin. That flow of money out of the funds suggests large investors are stepping back rather than buying the dip, at least for now. The market's Fear & Greed Index stood at 29, firmly in fear territory, with Bitcoin at $74,842.50 and ether at $2,127.66 in the report's early-morning snapshot.
The mood was already fragile before the election result. Crypto markets have been shaken in recent sessions by the theft of more than $6 billion from Binance, the world's largest exchange, in the largest cryptocurrency heist on record. Reuters reported that customers have since pulled a net $4.7 billion from the exchange as the industry weighs the risk, and the episode has put the security of the biggest platforms back at the centre of the debate.
Bitcoin's path to the two-month low underlines how quickly sentiment has turned. The cryptocurrency jumped above $80,000 just after the election, then gave back the gains: on November 5 it fell from $80,882 overnight to $75,573 in the afternoon, and the slide continued into the weekend. A two-month low is a useful marker for traders — it means prices are back where they were in August, erasing months of gains in a matter of days.
Regulatory pressure is also rising through channels other than legislation. Senator Richard Blumenthal has sent letters to Binance, Tether, World Liberty Financial and other entities requesting investigative records by January 4, 2027, covering issues including the illicit use of crypto assets and Trump-linked crypto businesses. Separately, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an order on November 6 targeting the MEXC exchange, prohibiting US financial institutions from processing certain fund transfers involving the platform, while the Securities and Exchange Commission has submitted proposed crypto broker-dealer rules to the White House for review.
None of these steps amounts to a new law. The letters and orders are investigations and enforcement actions, and an investigation does not itself establish wrongdoing. But together they show that scrutiny of the sector is extending beyond legislation to how platforms handle funds and meet anti-money laundering and sanctions requirements — and that is what traders are reacting to.
The wider economic backdrop is not helping risk assets either. US nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October, well above the 65,000 economists had expected, keeping the risk of higher interest rates in focus. The US October consumer price index is due on Tuesday, November 10, and a hotter-than-expected reading could push rate expectations higher still, which would be another headwind for cryptocurrencies.
What happens next is likely to be decided by two things: whether Bitcoin can hold $75,000, and what Tuesday's inflation data shows. KuCoin's report flagged the morning's $73,500 to $74,000 low as the key reference area if prices fall again, and said Bitcoin needs to reclaim $76,000 before attempting a recovery towards $78,000. Until then, the market that celebrated the election result a week ago is now bracing for a Congress it did not expect.
Figures in this report were checked at 10:54 PKT on 09 November 2026 against reports from Reuters via Business Recorder and KuCoin.
This post is market news information only, not financial advice.
