ZEC, NEAR Plunge as BTC Drops Pre-Midterms

Bitcoin Falters Ahead of US Midterm Elections, Altcoins Follow

Bitcoin’s tentative recovery in the wake of the Binance hack has stalled, with the cryptocurrency dipping below $77,000 in the past 12 to 18 hours. The downturn comes as the United States approaches its midterm elections, a period historically associated with increased volatility in the digital asset market.

Most altcoins have mirrored Bitcoin’s decline, experiencing significant losses. Among the notable decliners are ZEC, NEAR, and ENA.

The optimistic outlook for “Uptober” has largely evaporated. The cryptocurrency faced rejection at the $85,000 mark on October 21, subsequently correcting to around $80,000. Despite brief dips below this level, Bitcoin had managed to hold its ground, particularly after the US Federal Reserve’s decision last Wednesday to keep interest rates unchanged.

However, the significant Binance hack that surfaced on Friday proved to be a major blow, pushing Bitcoin down by several thousand dollars to a six-week low of $76,100. While an immediate rebound attempt saw the asset climb to $79,000 on Monday morning, it failed to sustain momentum above that level.

Since then, the trend has been predominantly downward. Bitcoin plunged again to $76,400 earlier today, mirroring a broader decline across Wall Street. Further volatility is anticipated later today as the US midterm election results begin to emerge, with historical data suggesting that Bitcoin often experiences sharp corrections following such events.

Currently, Bitcoin’s market capitalization has fallen to $1.540 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap, and its dominance over altcoins has slipped to just under 60%.

Ethereum (ETH) was rejected at $2,300 yesterday and has since fallen to $2,260. Binance Coin (BNB) has dropped back below the $700 level, while XRP has managed to hold the $1.25 support. Tron (TRX) and Monero (XMR) are showing modest gains, contrasting with losses in HYPE, Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), Chainlink (LINK), and Cardano (ADA).

ZEC and NEAR are leading the daily losses. The privacy-focused ZEC has plummeted by 8.6% to below $1,150, while NEAR is down 7.3% to $3.83. ENA has also seen a decline, dropping 5.7% to $0.17. In contrast, RAIN is up by 5.6% to $0.065.

The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrency assets has decreased by another $30 billion, now standing at $2.580 trillion on CoinMarketCap.