Bitcoin rebounds above $78,000 after midterm dip as DeFi tokens lead the recovery
Bitcoin recovered from below $76,000 to trade above $78,000 on 4 November 2026 after US midterm results eased uncertainty, with DeFi tokens leading gains and ether up about 2 per cent.
Bitcoin rebounded above $78,000 on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, recovering from a dip below $76,000 and a seven-week low as clearer United States midterm election results eased political uncertainty, CoinDesk and Bloomberg reported.
The largest cryptocurrency had fallen sharply in Asian trading as early results pointed to Democrats winning control of both chambers of Congress, a setback for the crypto-friendly Trump administration. It then staged a V-shaped recovery, erasing its early losses, with CoinDesk reporting a price of about $78,300 and Bloomberg, quoted by CryptoGazette, putting it at about $78,500 in New York morning trading, up roughly 0.9 per cent on the day after an intraday fall of as much as 2.8 per cent.
Decentralised finance tokens led the wider rebound. CoinDesk reported that Venice token, the token of the AI platform Venice, topped the CoinDesk 100 with a gain of around 7 per cent since midnight UTC, while ether rose about 2 per cent to $2,313, the CoinDesk 80 Index advanced 2.3 per cent, and the DeFi Select Index rose around 5 per cent, with Injective up 6.2 per cent.
Derivatives traders positioned for a recovery. CoinDesk reported that about $660 million in bitcoin options blocks traded on election day, more than double the previous day's volume, including $230 million in call options betting on a rebound. Overall derivatives volume rose 27 per cent in 24 hours, while open interest rose only 3 per cent, a pattern CoinDesk described as cautious positioning rather than a rush into leveraged bets.
The rebound came against a fragile backdrop. More than $1 billion was pulled from United States-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds over Friday and Monday, according to TradingView's report, and CoinDesk described a third straight session of outflows led by BlackRock's IBIT fund. At the same time, CoinDesk reported that customers had withdrawn a net $4.72 billion from Binance since its reopening on 1 November, following last week's $6.3 billion hack, which Binance has said began with a fake job interview and a tampered coding tool.
The election result itself reshapes the regulatory outlook for crypto. CoinDesk's daybook noted that a Democratic-controlled Congress changes who writes the rules from January, with American Banker reporting that Senator Elizabeth Warren is likely to chair the Senate Banking Committee, meaning nominees to the Securities and Exchange Commission will need Democratic support. The outlook for the CLARITY Act, the crypto market-structure bill, is now in focus, and traders are watching whether it advances, stalls or is rewritten.
Sentiment, however, remained cautious even as prices recovered. CoinMarketCap's fear and greed index stood at 37, in fear territory, while its altcoin season index read 51, according to CoinDesk. Analysts quoted by CoinDesk said sustained gains would probably require consistent inflows into spot exchange-traded funds and a decisive break above $82,000.
One of those analysts, Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, said a momentum indicator suggested bitcoin was oversold and could rebound toward $82,000. That is a possibility based on a technical gauge, not a guarantee, and it sits alongside the opposite risk: that the recovery fades if ETF outflows continue or if the Binance withdrawals deepen.
Attention now shifts to Friday's United States jobs report, which CoinDesk flagged as the next scheduled event for markets, and to whether the overnight rebound can hold through the rest of the week. Stock futures also turned positive early on Wednesday after earlier losses, suggesting the relief rally was broader than crypto alone.
Figures checked at about 21:35 PKT on 4 November 2026, based on CoinDesk's morning updates of 4 November (United States Eastern time) and Bloomberg's report quoted by CryptoGazette: bitcoin about $78,300 to $78,500, after dipping below $76,000; ether about $2,313, up about 2 per cent; fear and greed index 37.
This post is market news information only, not financial advice.
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Bitcoin has erased its election-night losses in a sharp V-shaped recovery, rebounding from below $76,000 towards $78,000 as clearer United States midterm results eased political uncertainty, even as heavy ETF outflows continue to weigh on the market.