Bitcoin Rises 4.00% on Nov 4, 2026 as Midterm Uncertainty Fades

Key takeaways

• Bitcoin rose $3,091.56 (+4.00%) to $80,428.31 on Coinbase at the end of the UTC day Nov 4, 2026 (00:00 UTC, Nov 5), after falling as low as $75,600.64 and rising as high as $81,130.79.
• Ether outperformed with a 6.63% gain to $2,422.27, while Solana rose 3.03% to $95.52 and XRP rose 2.27% to $1.3041 on Coinbase.
• Bitcoin's dip came around 03:00 UTC as US midterm results pointed to Democratic control of both chambers of Congress, CoinDesk reported; analysts said the clearer outcome removed uncertainty.
• US spot bitcoin ETFs had net outflows of $115.6 million in the session before Nov 4, a third straight day of outflows, Bloomingbit reported, citing Farside Investors.
• Trading roughly doubled: Coinbase recorded 13,198.74 BTC traded on its BTC-USD market on Wednesday, up from 6,274.72 BTC on Tuesday.

Session recap

Bitcoin rose 4.00% on Wednesday, November 4, in a V-shaped session driven by the US midterm elections. It opened the UTC day at $77,336.75 on Coinbase, slid to $75,600.64 during the Asian morning, then climbed to $81,130.79 before closing at $80,428.31. For the wider picture, see Asian and global market closes, our November 3 crypto brief and our report on how the US midterm results hit ASEAN markets.

Changes are calculated from Coinbase's previous UTC daily closes on November 3: bitcoin $77,336.75, ether $2,271.64, solana $92.71 and XRP $1.2752. Kraken's XBT/USD daily candle, used as a cross-check, closed at $80,440.80, up 4.02% from $77,331.70. The table does not show bitcoin dominance because the two market-wide data providers we checked disagreed: CoinGecko put dominance at 59.58% and total crypto market value at $2.71 trillion at 00:05 UTC on November 5, while CoinPaprika showed 57.39% and $2.82 trillion at 00:14 UTC. Their 24-hour changes in total market value also differed, at +0.82% on CoinGecko and +3.66% on CoinPaprika.

Ether traded between $2,223.00 and $2,448.26, Solana between $89.73 and $98.06, and XRP between $1.2398 and $1.3400. Volume rose sharply across the board. Coinbase's ether volume climbed to 188,582.79 ETH from 71,981.96 ETH on Tuesday, and XRP volume rose to about 74.2 million tokens from about 47.4 million.

What drove it

Midterm results: a dip, then relief

Bitcoin fell just below $76,000 early on Wednesday as reports indicated Democrats were winning control of both chambers of Congress, which CoinDesk described as a setback for pro-crypto President Donald Trump. The low came around 03:00 UTC, according to CoinDesk, which was about 10:00 in Jakarta and Bangkok. NBC News projected that Democrats would regain both the House and the Senate, crypto.news reported, though several races were still being counted. "The result itself wasn't really a surprise," Paradigm's Nicolas Quatravaux told CoinDesk, pointing to prediction-market odds that had favoured Democrats for some time. "With the results now confirmed, that uncertainty is gone," said Martin Lee of DWF Labs, quoted by CoinDesk.

US stocks turned higher

The second leg of the rebound came with Wall Street. Bitcoin returned to $80,000 at the US open and then passed $80,500 as US stocks rallied, Cointelegraph reported in an article carried by TradingView. S&P 500 futures had dropped as low as 7,490, their lowest since July 31, before recovering to 7,690, according to the same report. CoinShares research head James Butterfill said in that report that for bitcoin "real yields, dollar liquidity and ETP flows still carry more weight than the elections."

Options traders positioned for a rebound

About $660 million notional of bitcoin options blocks traded on election day, more than double the previous day, and traders bought about $420 million of calls against about $105 million sold, CoinDesk reported, citing Quatravaux. CoinDesk also reported that bitcoin's one-week implied volatility eased to about 34% from about 41% as demand for downside protection faded. Liquidations rose 22% to $469 million over the 24 hours before CoinDesk's 10:38 UTC report on Wednesday, according to CoinDesk; our guide to crypto liquidations explains how forced selling works.

ETF outflows continued

US spot bitcoin ETFs recorded combined net outflows of $115.6 million in the session before Nov 4, Bloomingbit reported, citing Farside Investors data. BlackRock's IBIT lost $95 million and Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust $52.6 million, while Bitwise's BITB took in $21.9 million. Crypto.news, citing SoSoValue, put the Nov 3 outflow at $115.56 million, after $398.6 million on Nov 2 and $643.3 million on Oct 30. Flow figures for Wednesday had not been verified by Bullquill at the time of writing; our explainer on bitcoin ETF flows covers how they are compiled.

Binance hack fallout

North Korean hackers resumed moving proceeds of the Binance theft through THORChain, CoinDesk reported, and the network's RUNE token rose about 10%. Binance said on Tuesday that about $2.85 billion had been frozen and that it had replaced about 98% of affected tokens with company funds, according to CoinDesk.

Political & policy watch

• Congress changes hands, on projections. NBC News projected Democratic control of both chambers, crypto.news reported. Cointelegraph reported that Democrats had flipped seven Senate seats and 25 House seats. Final counts were still pending in several races.
• Crypto legislation. Dick Lo of TDX Strategies told CoinDesk that a Democratic-controlled Congress is generally seen as less favourable for pro-crypto legislation and that divided government makes major policy shifts unlikely. Bitcoin Magazine reported on Nov 3 that the CLARITY Act, a crypto market-structure bill, failed a Senate cloture vote on September 15.
• Iran and oil. Cointelegraph reported that Trump conceded the Iran conflict was partly responsible for Republican losses, and that oil prices fell after the vote. Energy prices feed into inflation expectations, which shape interest-rate bets across Asian markets.
• Moscow Exchange. The US-sanctioned Moscow Exchange plans to list bitcoin and Tether's USDT in December, CoinDesk reported.
• Exchange security in Asia. Traders in Thailand, Indonesia and other ASEAN markets who rely on Binance remain exposed to its recovery from the hack; see our report on the Binance recovery effort and the Thai response.

What to watch next

• November 5 (Thursday): Bank of England rate decision at 12:00 UTC and US weekly jobless claims at 13:30 UTC, according to CoinDesk's week-ahead calendar.
• November 6 (Friday): US nonfarm payrolls for October at 13:30 UTC, after a previous reading of 29,000 jobs, according to CoinDesk's calendar.
• November 10 (Tuesday): US consumer price index for October, according to Bitcoin Magazine.
• Remaining midterm races: final counts in undecided House and Senate contests.
• December 9: next Federal Reserve rate decision, Bitcoin Magazine reported.

Risk checklist for readers

• Projections are not final results. Network projections can shift as counting continues, and markets can react to late changes.
• Overnight moves hit Asian hours. Crypto trades around the clock, so US news often moves prices during the Southeast Asian morning.
• ETF flow figures differ by tracker and date. Farside and SoSoValue compile data separately; check which trading day a figure refers to.
• Market-wide totals vary by provider. CoinGecko and CoinPaprika disagreed on total market value and dominance on November 4.
• Leverage magnifies swings. Bitcoin's range of more than $5,500 on November 4 shows how quickly borrowed positions can be closed.
• Check official sources. Read central bank and regulator statements in full on their own sites.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.