Bitcoin climbed to $80,500 on Wednesday as US stocks rallied after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
Overnight drop turns into a V-shaped recovery
The largest cryptocurrency fell just below $76,000 early Wednesday as reports showed Democrats winning the House and Senate, a setback for pro-crypto President Donald Trump.
According to Reuters, bitcoin briefly touched a six-week low before turning higher alongside US index futures, which had fallen as much as 2% at one point overnight.
By the morning session, the Nasdaq was up 2.2% and the S&P 500 had gained 1.8%, while WTI crude slid 2.8% to $93.45 per barrel.
TDX Strategies founder Dick Lo told CoinDesk:
“Bitcoin dropped initially in response to the Democratic sweep of the midterm elections, but has since recovered as a clear outcome resolves political uncertainty.”
“Bitcoin dropped initially in response to the Democratic sweep of the midterm elections, but has since recovered as a clear outcome resolves political uncertainty.”
Options traders bet on a rebound
Nicolas Quatravaux, head of EMEA at Paradigm, said overnight options traders were busy:
“On election day we printed about $660m notional of BTC options blocks, more than double the day before. Roughly $420m of calls were bought vs about $105m sold.”
“On election day we printed about $660m notional of BTC options blocks, more than double the day before. Roughly $420m of calls were bought vs about $105m sold.”
Martin Lee, head of insights at DWF Labs, pointed to the same move playing out across markets:
“With the results now confirmed, that uncertainty is gone, giving market participants confidence to re-enter the market. We’re also seeing the same price action on S&P and Nasdaq on Hyperliquid.”
“With the results now confirmed, that uncertainty is gone, giving market participants confidence to re-enter the market. We’re also seeing the same price action on S&P and Nasdaq on Hyperliquid.”
Yields ease as rate hike bets fade
LMAX Group strategist Joel Kruger said Treasury yields could fall as traders scale back expectations for further Federal Reserve rate hikes beyond December.
The 10-year Treasury yield was off 2.1 basis points at 4.928%.
Strategy’s STRC preferred stock rose to $99.98, just short of the $100 par value at which the company would flip from buying back the stock to issuing it to fund more bitcoin purchases, while MSTR shares gained 6.5%.
Headwinds remain
Bitcoin is still down around 41% since hitting record highs above $122,000 in October 2025, according to Reuters.
Investors also pulled $215 million from the largest bitcoin exchange-traded funds in October, bringing year-to-date outflows to $1.84 billion.
