US Midterms Fallout, Biggest Heist in History
Carlos Domingo, Kristin Smith, Morgan Krupetsky, Pascal Gauthier, Nathan McCauley, Nathan Dean, Vildana Hajric, Olga Kharif, Isabelle Leigh, Tim Stunneveck
Following the U.S. midterms, the crypto market experienced a risk-off correction with Bitcoin slipping below $76,000 and major equities like Coinbase and MicroStrategy declining over 10% amid fears of stricter Democratic regulatory oversight. The industry simultaneously grappled with the historic Binance heist, where officials distinguished the vulnerabilities of centralized exchanges from the inherent resilience of decentralized blockchains, prompting calls for traditional finance settlement guardrails. Despite political uncertainty surrounding the Clarity Act, institutional progress continues through the NYSE's selection of Avalanche for digital asset trading and Coinbase's receipt of a federal trust charter, signaling a gradual shift toward integrated, regulated infrastructure.