Bitcoin Drops Below $75,000 as Crypto Industry Steamrolls Congress

Despite a retreat in oil prices boosting stocks, Bitcoin is breaking below $75,000.

And oddly enough, it’s happening at the exact same time the crypto industry may be stronger politically than it’s ever been before.

Because while BTC struggled after a reported $1.3 billion “dark pool” style trade spooked traders, crypto-backed PACs were simultaneously cleaning house in key Congressional primaries.

The biggest example: Texas Congressman Al Green losing after becoming one of the loudest anti-crypto voices in Congress.

Just months ago, Green stood on the House floor asking:

“Why is the crypto industry spending mega millions of dollars to control Congress?”

Now the answer appears to be: Because it works.

Fairshake and affiliated crypto PACs reportedly spent more than $6 million targeting Green’s race. And heading into November, every politician in Washington is now getting the same message loud and clear: Going aggressively anti-crypto may now carry actual electoral consequences.

That’s becoming especially important as the Clarity Act and stablecoin legislation continue moving through Congress.

To be fair, not every race materially changes the balance of crypto support in Washington. Some pro-crypto Republicans simply replaced other pro-crypto Republicans. But the broader trend is unmistakable now: crypto money has become one of the biggest forces shaping modern financial politics.

And depending on who you ask, that’s either bullish… or terrifying.

Crypto’s Biggest Political Problem Isn’t Going Away

At the exact same time crypto is gaining influence in Washington, regulators overseas are once again spotlighting the industry’s favorite weak spot: Sanctions evasion.

The UK is now reportedly going after HTX over allegations tied to roughly $1.5 billion in crypto flows linked to Russia.

Those headlines matter politically because they reinforce the argument anti-crypto lawmakers keep making: that crypto is more useful for moving money around sanctions than for actual financial freedom. Every billion-dollar enforcement story makes it harder for the industry to shake that narrative.

Especially as crypto simultaneously ramps political spending in the US.

HYPE Refuses To Break

Meanwhile, one asset refusing to care about any of this is Hyperliquid. Even with Bitcoin rolling over, HYPE is still trading above prior all-time highs.

And the institutional pitch around the token is evolving fast.

On Coinage this week, Hyperliquid Strategies CEO David Schamis argued HYPE increasingly behaves less like a speculative crypto token and more like an actual growth business.

“HYPE is much more similar to businesses where you could look at multiples, you can look at multiple to revenue, multiple to earnings.”

That framing is important because it gives institutional investors something crypto rarely offers: Valuation models they already understand.

Bitcoin trades more like macro-driven digital gold. HYPE is increasingly being pitched more like a tech company. A recent Grayscale research report from friend of the show Zach Pandl highlights this well.

But in calculating the hype around HYPE (sorry, not sorry) it’s important to weigh the boost of institutional money flowing in with OGs looking to sell on the 150% rally year-to-date.

Right now, roughly $570 million worth of HYPE sits waiting to unstake. Over the next week, traders are going to find out whether early holders start taking profits — or whether institutional demand keeps overwhelming the sell pressure.

That may determine whether this breakout sticks. Right now, HYPE is sitting right on top of its old all-time high. We’ll see if that level holds.

Bitcoin Miners Quietly Became AI Trades

Last week, Fundstrat’s Sean Farrell joined us to spotlight names like Cipher Digital and Hive as examples of miners successfully pivoting toward AI infrastructure and data center capacity.

“Most of them are in the process of being re-rated from these very cyclical Bitcoin miners to these digital REITs.”

The market is already rewarding that transition. Cipher Digital is up more than 500% over the past year. But Farrell believes there is still room to run, increasing his allocation to the set to his model portfolio.

One way to play the group is through the CoinShares Bitcoin Miner ETF (WGMI) which is up more than 400% over the last year.