Bitcoin rises as risk sentiment prevails on Wall Street; midterm elections eyed

 Bitcoin on Tuesday erased earlier losses to tick up, as risk sentiment improved on Wall Street amid a rebound in the artificial intelligence trade. The cryptocurrency had earlier slid to an over one-month low, weighed down by uncertainty over the U.S. regulatory outlook after the midterm elections.

Broader crypto also tracked Bitcoin higher, even as market participants continued to digest an over $6 billion theft of Binance’s crypto holdings late last week. Binance resumed withdrawals at a staggered pace this week, and said it will cover all customer losses.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last up 1.3% to $77,803.5 by 18:04 ET (23:04 GMT).

Midterm elections in focus for regulatory cues 

The U.S. midterm elections will see millions of voters cast their ballots on Tuesday.

The elections are largely expected to set the regulatory agenda for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term. The 46th U.S. president and the Republican party are grappling with record-low approvals amid increasing dissatisfaction over high energy prices, corruption, and a prolonged war with Iran.

A Democratic sweep of Congress – where the Republicans hold a dual majority – effectively nixes the prospect of any more pro-crypto legislation over the next two years.

While Trump and the Republicans had attempted to advance pro-crypto legislation over the past two years, a key act – Clarity – largely failed to clear Congress earlier this year.

A Republican loss in the midterms limits the prospect of any more pro-crypto regulation largely to the executive level – which is subject to changing rapidly between administrations.

Crypto was sold off en-mass on this notion, and struggled to recover this week. A historic trend of crypto price strength in October also failed to materialize for a second straight year.

Mercado Bitcoin suspends deposits, withdrawals after $46.3 million security incident

Elsewhere, Brazil’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin on Monday said it had suffered a security incident involving about $46.3 million in assets.

“We identified and swiftly contained a security incident in one of our systems early this morning,” the exchange said in a post on X. It temporarily halted deposits and withdrawals as a precaution while it investigates, traces the assets, and works with authorities.

Mercado Bitcoin said customers weren’t affected and that there was no data breach. It also published the destination wallet addresses tied to the transactions so blockchain security firms and others can track the funds.

The incident follows a string of attacks on crypto platforms in recent days. On Thursday, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, said unauthorized withdrawals had an estimated financial impact of about $6.3 billion. That same day, Polymarket suffered a $2.65 million exploit, which it traced to a compromised third-party provider.