JUST IN: As US midterm elections draw close, Bitcoin worth $3.15 billion floods exchanges

US midterm elections are expected to have a key impact on cryptocurrencies. Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX exchange CEO and founder has admitted to being a significant donor to both sides, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. 

The elections could decide the future of DeFi and NFT platforms and issuers since they have their profitability riding on some key regulatory bills. 

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US midterm elections draw close, two impactful bills up for consideration

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA) and stablecoin legislation are both pressing crypto regulatory matters. The US midterm elections are expected to impact the crypto community as regulation takes center stage in cryptocurrency adoption and utilization worldwide. 

US midterm elections are scheduled to occur on November 8 are key to crypto, and more significant than the five federal electoral cycles that cryptocurrencies have been around for. 

The DCCPA defines cryptocurrencies as “digital commodities” and this implies that Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is the primary regulator and maintains oversight on digital assets. This is consistent with the critics of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulation by enforcement. 

A draft of the bill exempts developers from registering with the CFTC, however DeFi operators fall under the purview of the authority. The other key concern is which federal agency should regulate stablecoin issuers. Either the Federal Reserve or some special purpose watchdog will regulate issuers of stablecoins. The authority will determine whether stablecoin issuers gain access to federal backing, such as lending facilities or deposit coverage. 

Interestingly, ahead of the US midterm elections 152,000 Bitcoins worth $3.15 billion flooded exchanges in a 24-hour period. Coinglass, a crypto intelligence tracker noted that the cryptocurrency market is shrouded with uncertainty, and a large volume of Bitcoin has hit exchanges. 

A spike in Bitcoin reserves on exchanges is indicative of an increase in selling pressure and a decline in the asset’s price. Higher supply of Bitcoin on exchanges implies that there is a relatively high quantity of BTC available for sale and profit-taking. This negatively impacts BTC price. 

Bitcoin price decline could continue, bulls fail to defend key level

Bitcoin price could decline further, according to crypto analyst CrpNuevo. The technical expert looked at the asset’s price action over the weekend and argued that three key events are scheduled to occur this week- 

• Midterm elections on November 8
• Release of Consumer Price Index on November 10 
• US bank holiday on November 11 

CrpNuevo predicted a decline in Bitcoin price to the $19,400 liquidity level. 

BTCUSDT price chart 

PostyXBT, crypto analyst and trader evaluated Bitcoin price and observed that the asset is retesting the breakout area. PostyXBT believes a break and retest of the weekly open area at $20,874 would imply a bullish breakout is in the cards for Bitcoin. A climb above this level would invalidate the bearish thesis for Bitcoin.

BTCUSD price chart 

Samuel Bankman-Fried supports both sides in the US midterm elections 

SBF, the founder and CEO of FTX exchange, told his followers that he supports both sides in the US midterm elections. The exchange has recently been shrouded in controversy for SBF’s opinion on crypto regulation where the FTX CEO points regulators towards DeFi and argues that they are in need of regulatory policies. 

The crypto billionaire revealed that he has supported constructive candidates across the aisle and is working with them to support permissionless finance.