Ether drops 4% as Bitcoin slips to $75,000 amid post-midterm unease

Ether led the crypto market lower, falling 4.11% in 24 hours, while Bitcoin gave back its small gain from the previous session and slipped to $75,060. Cointelegraph's weekly digest says the industry "faces an uncertain future" after the US elections, and the sell-off was broad, with every major coin in the red.

Prices below are from a CoinGecko snapshot taken at 00:51 UTC on Nov. 9. Changes are rolling 24-hour and 7-day windows.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin traded at $75,060, down 0.83% over 24 hours and down 4.07% over seven days. It moved between a low of $73,963 and a high of $76,106 during the period. That range means it briefly dipped below $74,000 before recovering part of the loss. Trading volume was $17.8 billion and its market value stood at $1.509 trillion.

In our previous recap, Bitcoin had edged up to $75,988. The latest snapshot leaves it roughly $900 lower. You can follow the price on the BTC/USD chart.

Ether and the other majors

Ether fell to $2,141.16, trading between $2,108.59 and $2,242.93. It was the weakest of the large coins on the day. XRP remained the weakest over the week, down 10.78%. See the ETH/USD chart.

BNB held up best among the altcoins, losing 1.17% on the day. Solana, Dogecoin and Cardano each fell between 2.4% and 2.7%.

Market breadth and sentiment

Total crypto market capitalisation stood at $2.503 trillion, down 4.87% in 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Bitcoin dominance was 60.2% and Ether's share was 10.4%.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index from Alternative.me read 29 (Fear), up from 28 a day earlier and 25 (Extreme Fear) on Nov. 7. Sentiment has improved slightly for two days but remains far below the neutral 50 recorded on Nov. 5.

What drove the market

• US election fallout. CoinDesk's State of Crypto says Democrats "had an astoundingly good night, smashing all expectations" and asks whether that is bad news for the industry. Cointelegraph's Hodler's Digest also links crypto's weakness to the midterm results.
• Ethereum narrative. The same Cointelegraph digest reports that Vitalik Buterin wants Ethereum to embrace a store-of-value narrative, a move it says upset Bitcoin maximalists.
• Binance leadership change. Cointelegraph reports that Binance finance chief Kaiser Ng will leave the company and be replaced by Justin Yek, formerly vice-president of finance at Airwallex.
• Stablecoins. CoinDesk reports that stablecoin supply has barely grown this year even as payments using the tokens surge, citing Circle's latest earnings as an example.
• Mining economics. CoinDesk describes a Finnish startup using 30 bitcoin mining systems as home heating. At current prices each unit earns slightly more than the electricity it uses, a setup the headline ties to Bitcoin staying above $70,000.
• Quantum security. Decrypt reports that developer Cory Fields has proposed making future quantum attackers post Bitcoin as collateral before touching vulnerable wallets.

What to watch next

• Binance France fees from Nov. 29. According to Cointelegraph, assets left on the exchange will be charged monthly fees from that date.
• Binance account closures on Dec. 31. Cointelegraph says Binance France accounts close on that date.
• Binance finance chief handover. Watch for confirmation of Kaiser Ng's exit and Justin Yek's start, as reported by Cointelegraph.
• Policy signals after the midterms. CoinDesk and Cointelegraph both frame the election result as a source of uncertainty for the industry.

CryptoClick Desk