Crypto market sinks by 2% despite GENIUS Act win

The global crypto market continues to tumble on Wednesday as escalating tensions in the Middle East prompted investors to flee riskier assets. The cumulative crypto market cap dropped by almost 2% over the last day to stand at $3.26 trillion. The 24-hour trading volume took a hit of around 9% to drop to $121 billion, suggesting that traders might take a halt now.

The sell-off comes in when the US Senate made a historic move on crypto regulation. The assembly passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act with a 68-30 bipartisan vote. However, the biggest crypto, Bitcoin, didn’t react to the positive update and dipped by 2% over the last 24 hours.

Altcoins dip as tensions rise

The top altcoins led the decline as Ether and Solana prices dropped by around 7-8% before slightly recovering. Ethereum price took a nose dive from trading above the $2,550 zone straight to the $2,450 zone. As the downtrend continues, Ether price is now down by 10% in the last 7 days. ETH is trading at an average price of $2,532 at press time with a trading volume of $23.2 billion.

Cardano (ADA) also slid by as much as 8% during the session. The sharp reversal came after a brief rally earlier in the week. ADA has been bleeding through this year and is down by more than 27% year to date (YTD). Cardano is trading at an average price of $0.61 at press time. It is already down by 80% from its all-time high (ATH) of $3.10, registered on September 2, 2021.

Bitcoin price dropped to hover around the $104k area, marking its sixth daily loss in the past seven trading sessions. BTC price still flashes green index on the frame period, but it has lost 5% of its gain over the last 7 days. The decline in crypto prices coincided with a broader market selloff driven by fears that worsening conflict in the Middle East could draw the US into deeper involvement.

As per the CoinGlass data, more than $260 million in leveraged long crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours. Over 105K traders were liquidated as the total liquidations hit the $320 million mark. However, the largest liquidation order of ETH/USDT was valued at $4.23 million happened on Binance.

The latest slump seems like another blow to the idea that Bitcoin serves as a hedge against geopolitical instability. US spot Bitcoin ETFs posted a total net inflow of $216 million on June 17. It marked seven consecutive days of net inflows, which is quite the opposite of the trading market situation. Even Ethereum ETFs also recorded a total net inflow of $11.09 million in the same session.

Crypto’s biggest bill yet moves forward

As the turbulence continues in the digital assets market, the US Senate is done with the GENIUS Act. The bill is now headed to the House of Representatives, as it represents the most significant crypto legislation to date. It is expected to bring much-needed clarity to stablecoin issuers such as Tether and Circle.

The bipartisan support has given the bill strong momentum in the House, where lawmakers can either pass it as-is or make adjustments that would send it back to the Senate for final approval. Another positive move will land the bill on President Donald Trump’s desk.

The stablecoin market is already $261 billion strong. Tether’s USDT is leading the tally with $155.5 billion in market cap, while Circle’s USDC is the second in the race with a cap of $61.4 billion.

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