Crypto charts continued to post losses on Wednesday as the broader market reacted to rising geopolitical tensions. The global cryptocurrency market cap declined by nearly 2% in the last 24 hours, settling at $3.26 trillion. At the same time, 24-hour trading volume dipped by 9% to $121 billion, reflecting cautious sentiment among investors.
The continued sell-off came just as the United States Senate approved a major crypto regulation bill. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act passed with strong bipartisan support, receiving a 68-30 vote. Despite the historic decision, Bitcoin failed to react positively and instead dropped by 2% in the last day.
Altcoins extend losses as risk sentiment weakens
Top altcoins mirrored Bitcoin’s decline, with Ethereum and Solana registering sharp losses of up to 8% during the trading session. Ethereum, which had recently traded above $2,550, dropped to the $2,450 range before recovering slightly. ETH is now down by 10% over the past week and is trading at $2,532 with a daily volume of $23.2 billion.
Cardano also saw a significant drop, falling 8% after a short-lived rally earlier in the week. ADA is down over 27% year to date and remains 80% below its all-time high of $3.10 recorded in September 2021. At press time, Cardano was trading at $0.61, reflecting the continued weakness in altcoin markets.
Bitcoin records consecutive losses despite ETF inflows
Bitcoin declined to trade near the $104,000 mark, marking its sixth daily loss in the last seven trading sessions. Despite the red numbers on the daily chart, BTC remains positive over a longer time frame. However, it has surrendered about 5% of its weekly gains amid renewed fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East that could impact global markets.
Data from CoinGlass showed that over $260 million worth of leveraged long positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours. A total of $320 million in crypto positions were wiped out, affecting more than 105,000 traders. The most significant liquidation was an ETH/USDT order worth $4.23 million on Binance.
GENIUS Act moves to the house as market looks for clarity
The GENIUS Act now heads to the House of Representatives and is widely seen as a landmark piece of legislation for the digital asset industry. It aims to provide regulatory clarity for stablecoin issuers such as Tether and Circle. The stablecoin market currently stands at $261 billion, with USDT leading at $155.5 billion and USDC following at $61.4 billion.
The House can adopt the bill as is; or it can amend it and the amended bill would have to be passed in the Senate. Provided is successfully, the bill will end up at the desk of President Donald Trump to sign off the final approval.