Bitcoin and Altcoins Rebound After US Midterm Elections
Bitcoin traded above $80,000 on Thursday, November 5, as global markets recovered. After Democrats won majorities in both chambers of the US Congress, hopes for an end to the Iran conflict and lower oil prices supported risk appetite. Zcash stood out among major cryptocurrencies with a 6% gain.According to market data, Bitcoin rose 3% over the past 24 hours to approximately $80,606. Ethereum gained 5% to $2,427, while XRP climbed 3% to $1.31. Solana advanced 3.7% to $96, and BNB rose 2% to around $715. Bitcoin recovers its election-night lossesThe crypto market’s initial reaction was a selloff. As election results came in, Bitcoin fell to around $75,700 early Wednesday. Buyers then returned, pushing the price back above the $80,000 threshold.Jeff Mei, chief operating officer at crypto exchange BTSE, linked the recovery to gains in equities. According to Mei, investors believe the election outcome increases the likelihood of an end to the Iran conflict and high oil prices.Brent crude fell more than 8% on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 gained 1.6%. The dollar also weakened. Expectations that lower energy costs could ease inflationary pressure and reduce business expenses supported buying across markets.Asian equities, however, did not move uniformly. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell more than 6% on Thursday amid expectations of tighter scrutiny of data centers. Chinese internet companies Tencent and Alibaba gained more than 5%.Zcash rises as time runs out for $16 million in remaining fundsZcash rose nearly 7% over the past 24 hours to approximately $1,323. Trading volume reached $1.2 billion during the same period. Alongside the price movement, the NU7 upgrade is also in focus for the network, which supports payments that conceal the sender, recipient and transaction amount.A key issue ahead of the upgrade concerns funds remaining in Sprout, the network’s oldest privacy pool. According to figures shared Thursday morning, the pool held approximately 12,226 ZEC. At $1,300 per ZEC, that amounts to roughly $16 million.A week earlier, the pool’s balance stood at around 22,263 ZEC. Most of the outflows occurred on Sunday, when approximately 9,094 ZEC moved out. Only around 40 ZEC left the pool on Wednesday.Sprout is an older privacy system that has been in use since Zcash launched in October 2016. Later network upgrades introduced newer pools. These pools can be understood as separate balance compartments that use different generations of privacy technology.The ZIP 2003 technical specification proposes disabling version 4 transactions with NU7. Because this is the only transaction format capable of spending Sprout funds, any assets remaining in the pool will become unspendable once the change takes effect. Holding the private keys alone will not allow users to bypass this restriction.The change does not affect all ZEC holders; it concerns users with funds in the Sprout pool. The pool’s total balance also does not reveal who owns the assets or how much belongs to wallets whose keys have been lost.NU7 targets activation at block 3,543,405NU7 is scheduled to activate at block 3,543,405. The block height reported Thursday morning and the current target block time of 75 seconds suggest activation could occur around Friday morning in Türkiye. The exact timing may vary depending on how quickly miners find blocks.The upgrade also aims to reduce the target block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. This is expected to speed up transaction confirmations. For example, if an exchange continues to require three confirmations, the theoretical waiting time could fall from approximately 225 seconds to 75 seconds.Funds remaining in Sprout will continue to count toward Zcash’s issued supply. ZIP 2003 leaves open the possibility of restoring access through a future upgrade, while also warning that spending may never be re-enabled.Uncertainty over crypto regulation persistsDespite the market rally, Mei believes the election outcome could complicate the crypto industry’s legislative ambitions. He considers the CLARITY Act, which aims to establish rules for US crypto markets, unlikely to pass in its current form. He also remains cautious about the prospects for interest rate cuts.The new congressional majorities will take office on January 3. Proposed amendments to the bill and whether Congress pursues crypto-related investigations will be among the sector’s main points of focus in the coming months.
