Bitcoin price traded near $78,300 on Wednesday morning, up about 1% on the day, after Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections and dealt the crypto industry its worst night in Washington since 2022.

The Associated Press called the Senate for Democrats late Tuesday and the House early Wednesday. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is in line to become speaker. The result exceeded most forecasts: by Wednesday morning the AP tracker showed Democrats with 54 Senate seats to Republicans’ 44, with races still open. 

Prediction markets had put a Democratic House above 90% for weeks, but the Senate margin and the loss of several Republican crypto allies in the House came as a surprise.

The bitcoin price reacted in two moves. Bitcoin fell to $75,618, a seven-week low, as results came in during Asian trading, then recovered the full loss and more by the European open.

Traders broadly speaking treated the sweep as the removal of a known risk rather than a shock: prediction markets had priced a Democratic win for weeks, and options desks saw heavy call buying on election day, with block volume more than double the prior session. 

The view on the desks is that a Democratic Congress is less friendly to crypto legislation but that divided government, a presidential veto and executive orders cap how much policy can change, leaving technical targets near $82,000 as the next test. 

S. 16 billion over three sessions and the price still about 27% below where it stood a year ago, down from about $80,500 a week before the vote.

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