The total crypto market cap (TOTAL) and Bitcoin (BTC) finally broke free from the bearish curse they had been under for the past 12 days. As BTC neared $70,000, it sparked a rally amongst the altcoins as well, led by XDC Network (XDC).

In the news today:-

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The Crypto Market Breaths a Sigh Of Relief

The total crypto market cap rebounded by $211 billion over the past 24 hours, signaling a relief rally after Thursday’s sharp sell-off. The recovery has improved short-term sentiment across digital assets. Closing the week in positive territory could help stabilize markets and support risk appetite through the weekend.

TOTAL is trading near $2.36 trillion at the time of writing, hovering just below the $2.37 trillion resistance. A decisive flip of this level into support would confirm strengthening momentum. Such a move could open the path for a continued advance toward the $2.45 trillion zone.

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Downside risk remains if bullish momentum fades. Failure to secure $2.37 trillion in support may trigger renewed selling pressure. Under this scenario, TOTAL could slip below the $2.30 trillion level and fall toward $2.22 trillion, erasing a significant portion of the recent recovery.

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Bitcoin Attempts Recovery

Bitcoin is trading near $69,972 at the time of writing as it attempts to reclaim $70,000. This level remains a key psychological threshold for market participants. A successful flip into support would signal renewed buyer confidence and mark the early stages of a broader recovery attempt.

The immediate objective is to secure $70,000 as support and push higher toward $75,000. Achieving this would confirm improving momentum and strengthen bullish structure. If buying pressure persists, Bitcoin could regain traction and set its sights on the $80,000 level in the near term.

Failure to reclaim $70,000 would weaken the recovery narrative. Renewed selling pressure could drag Bitcoin back toward $65,000 or lower. Such a move would invalidate the bullish thesis, reinforce downside risk, and prolong market uncertainty amid fragile investor sentiment.

XDC Network Jumps Sharply

XDC led the altcoin market, surging 23% over the past 24 hours to trade near $0.0370 at the time of writing. The rally reflects renewed buying interest and improving sentiment. Securing this level of support is critical for sustaining momentum and confirming the strength of the current price move.

XDC is now targeting a move toward $0.0413, but a breakout requires clearing the $0.0392 resistance. Rising inflows and sustained investor participation could provide the needed catalyst. A decisive breach would validate bullish continuation and strengthen confidence in XDC’s short-term recovery trajectory.

Downside risk remains if support fails to hold. A loss of $0.0370 could push XDC back toward $0.0345. Breaking below that level would expose price to a deeper pullback near $0.0299, erasing much of the recent recovery and weakening the bullish setup.

TLDR:

• 173 WBTC sold at $67K, totaling $11.75M in USDC during a volatile Bitcoin session. 
• Initial trades were fast and decisive, signaling structured exits amid price weakness. 
• Bitcoin dipped to low $60Ks but quickly recovered to $70K, showing market absorption. 
• WBTC to USDC rotation reflects liquidity preference and defensive risk management strategy.

Trump-linked World Liberty Finance sold 173 WBTC near $67K, moving $11.75M into USDC. The trades were fast and decisive, coinciding with Bitcoin’s dip into the low $60Ks. 

Liquidity thinned, stops triggered, but buyers quickly stepped in. Bitcoin rebounded to $70K, showing the market absorbed pressure efficiently. The sale signaled caution, yet strength remained clear.

Timing and Market Mechanics of the WBTC Sale

Trump-linked World Liberty Finance executed 173 WBTC sales on February 5, coinciding with Bitcoin’s decline from the mid-$70Ks to the low-$60Ks. Initially, 40 WBTC were sold for $2.761M USDC, immediately followed by 33 WBTC for $2.276M USDC. 

Both trades occurred within a minute. Consequently, the market saw a clear signal of urgency rather than routine rebalancing.

Later, 100 WBTC were sold for $6.711M USDC as Bitcoin accelerated downward. This final trade appeared as a towering spike on the chart, coinciding with a steep price drop.

Therefore, the sequence indicates that the sales were structured and decisive, creating a liquidity event during volatility.

Moreover, moving from WBTC to USDC demonstrates a defensive approach. USDC preserves value while offering flexibility for future actions. Thus, the strategy prioritizes liquidity over exposure. 

Market participants noted that sales at the $67K level influenced sentiment. Even if independent, the “Trump-linked” label amplified attention, making the timing appear cautious.

In addition, the total volume, while meaningful, is not existential for Bitcoin liquidity. The $11.75M converted into USDC represents a tactical adjustment rather than a complete exit.

Consequently, the trades reinforced short-term bearish momentum but also created opportunities for buyers. The compressed timing, coupled with large trade sizes, allowed other market players to anticipate liquidity points.

Bitcoin’s Reaction and Market Absorption

Following the WBTC sales, Bitcoin briefly dipped into the low $60Ks on February 6. This drop coincided with the heavy USDC conversions. 

As a result, liquidity thinned, stop orders triggered, and weaker traders exited positions. Consequently, the session recorded an emotional low that reflected short-term fear.

However, Bitcoin quickly recovered to $65K and continued a controlled ascent. By evening, the price approached $70K, nearly erasing earlier losses.

Therefore, the market absorbed the $11.75M sell pressure without structural breakdown. This V-shaped rebound indicates strong buying interest.

Furthermore, the transaction demonstrates how tactical exits interact with market depth. Large holders rotated positions, yet equally serious buyers absorbed the coins efficiently.

Consequently, the market interpreted the Trump-linked sales as a liquidity event rather than a persistent sell-off.

As a result, Bitcoin’s quick rebound reinforced confidence in liquidity and market resilience. Finally, the WBTC sale highlights how high-profile players manage risk while maintaining market stability. 

Political action committees (PACs) representing the interests of the crypto industry have already secured millions of dollars in funding as the US heads toward its midterm elections.

Super PACs are the uber-rich, no-limits, non-disclosure counterparts to crypto PACs. Last year, the industry spent at least $245 million in campaign contributions alone.

The main super PAC funded by the cryptocurrency industry, Fairshake, raised some $133 million in 2025, bringing its total cash on hand up to over $190 million. Venture capital firm a16z contributed an initial $24 million, while Coinbase and Ripple each donated $25 million.

This influx of cash has alarmed activist and election reform groups. Saurav Ghosh, director of the Campaign Legal Center — a legal center concentrated on voting rights, fair districting and campaign finance reform — told Cointelegraph:

“This kind of influence buying ultimately undermines the democratic process by marginalizing everyday Americans, ensuring that their voices and interests take a backseat to the crypto industry’s deregulatory desires.”

Bipartisan support ensures crypto lobby’s success

The US crypto industry’s main goal is to pass a large framework law, the CLARITY Act, which passed in the House of Representatives this summer and moved on to the Senate. The bill still hasn’t managed to satisfy the crypto industry, particularly Coinbase, nor the ethics and oversight concerns of Senate Democrats.

Now, the CLARITY Act is in limbo, and Congress is shifting its attention to the 2026 midterm elections. For nearly 80 years, the president’s party has almost always lost the midterms, the federal elections in the off-year between presidential elections. This is particularly important for the crypto industry, which enjoys more full-throated support among the Republican Party. Take, for example, the roll call for the Senate’s vote on the GENIUS Act: Nearly twice as many Democrats voted against the motion compared to those in support of it.

Some in the crypto space have taken this to mean they need to take a partisan stance. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, founders of the crypto exchange Gemini, have poured millions into the conservative PAC Digital Freedom Fund, which aims to boost pro-crypto and pro-Trump candidates.

Others have stressed the need for bipartisan support, warning that backing one party is bound to backfire once the other eventually takes power.

Representative Sam Liccardo, a crypto-friendly Democrat, told Politico in October 2025, “I don’t think anybody in this town would recommend that an industry put their eggs in one party’s basket.”

One major lobby, Fairshake, has shown it’s more than willing to support Democrats, so long as they are sufficiently pro-crypto. The Super PAC actually spent more money in support of Democrats than it did Republicans from 2023 to 2024, according to Open Secrets.

Whether it be among Republicans or Democrats, the crypto industry’s political strategy has changed significantly both in how much and where it spends its dollars.

How did we get here?

Crypto made headlines in 2024 for donating nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to different political campaigns and super PACs — the largest contribution of any single industry.

But this wasn’t crypto’s first step in the political arena. During the crypto bull run of 2020-2021, crypto companies made massive ad buys. Celebrities like Matt Damon were advertising crypto investment platforms. Now-convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried slapped the name of his now-defunct crypto exchange, FTX, onto the home of the Miami Heat basketball team.

At the same time, crypto increased its lobbying efforts in Washington. Major platforms like Coinbase and fintech developers like Ripple padded their budgets as the industry gained visibility.

Coinbase raised spending from $1.5 million in 2020 to $3.9 million in 2021. Ripple more than tripled the amount it spent on lobbying over the same period, spending $330,000 in 2020 and more than $1.1 million in 2021.

One major donor from the crypto space was Bankman-Fried. He made more than $100 million in political campaign contributions in the 2022 midterms. “He leveraged this influence, in turn, to lobby Congress and regulatory agencies to support legislation and regulation he believed would make it easier for FTX to continue to accept customer deposits and grow,” federal prosecutors said in a later indictment.

By Bankman-Fried’s own admission, he supported campaigns on both sides of the aisle, though he found Republicans “far more reasonable” on crypto.

The crypto market crashed soon after. FTX went bust, the Terra stablecoin system collapsed, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US’ main finance regulator under then-Chair Gary Gensler, opened enforcement actions against many crypto companies operating in the US.

Related: SBF always played both sides of the aisle despite new Republican plea

In 2023, the presidential election cycle began. Trump ran against ex-Vice President Kamala Harris. Crypto, for the first time, was on the presidential platform. Trump visited a Bitcoin (BTC) conference and made promises of ending “regulation by enforcement.

Crypto poured money into the race through PACs and super PACs. For the 2024 selections, these were namely:

Fairshake raised a whopping $260 million from 2023 to 2024, at least $92 million of which came from Coinbase. It made $126 million in independent expenditures and transfers to affiliated committees.

Independent expenditures are expenditures “for a communication that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate and which is not made in coordination with any candidate or their campaign or political party,” per the FEC.

According to Follow the Crypto, the two other single-issue crypto PACs are affiliated with Fairshake, despite one being liberal and the other conservative. Defend American Jobs made $57 million in independent expenditures, and Protect Progress made $34.5 million over the same 2023-2024 period.

This vast amount of money entering PACs reflects a broader shift in how companies seek political influence.

“Super PACs are increasingly becoming in vogue for special interests who want to make their presence known in Washington,” Michael Beckel, research director of Issue One — a bipartisan political reform organization watching big money in politics — told Cointelegraph.

“Industry-aligned super PACs with huge bank accounts have made a huge splash and helped thwart new regulations on their business interests.”

Just a few years ago, “corporate influence operations focused more on lobbying and direct campaign contributions,” Beckel explained. “Now we’re seeing sector-specific super PACs with massive bank accounts.”

And it’s changing how laws are made in Washington.

Crypto lobby affects policy as Trump seeks to “nationalize” elections

Blockchain bigwigs now regularly visit Washington to meet with lawmakers and advise policymakers on how to regulate the industry.

Issue One vice president of advocacy Alix Fraser said, “The Trump administration is packed with tech industry insiders who have acted in the interest of their own companies — not the American people — to rig policy for their own profit.”

The degree to which the crypto industry is involved in the legislative process is no more apparent than with the market structure bill making its way through the Senate. Work on the bill stalled in mid-January after Coinbase withdrew its support.

The exchange’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, wrote on X:

The main point of contention is a provision that would outlaw one of Coinbase’s products: stablecoin yields for consumers. Banks are pushing to outlaw the practice, saying a flight of deposits from insured lenders could threaten financial stability. The crypto industry and Coinbase argue that the ban stifles innovation and is anti-competitive.

Earlier this week, the White House scheduled a closed-door summit for leaders from the crypto and banking industries to hash out their differences, but according to Reuters, no deal was made.

According to reporter Eleanor Terrett, Senate Democrats said that the talks were “constructive” and were optimistic about the chances of passing a bill. Reporter Sander Lutz said that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is “desperate” to get the bill finished, as Fairshake alone now has $193 million in its coffers.

“These payments help explain the crypto industry’s success in curtailing efforts to meaningfully regulate their business model, which is consistent with a well-established practice of wealthy corporate special interests using lobbying and political contributions to influence policy decisions,” Ghosh told Cointelegraph.

“This kind of influence buying ultimately undermines the democratic process by marginalizing everyday Americans, ensuring that their voices and interests take a backseat to the crypto industry’s deregulatory desires.”

Rick Claypool, research director at consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen, told Cointelegraph that big money from lobbies like crypto pushes out the priorities of most voters from the agenda.

“This feeds cynicism — the sense that our elected officials prioritize the interests of wealthy donors over all other constituents — and erodes faith in our democratic institutions.”

Related: US crypto market structure bill in limbo as industry pulls support

The increased influence of monied interests in Washington comes at a time when election integrity itself is under threat. Trump has recently said Republicans should “nationalize” the midterm elections.

“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over. We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places … the Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,’” he said.

He added that he will only accept the results if they are “honest,” while claiming that there was widespread voter fraud in many American cities. Election experts have refuted the claims. House Speaker Mike Johnson has admitted that he himself has no evidence of his own claims of voter fraud.

Marc Elias, a partner at Elias Law Group, said that Trump “is not interested in following the Constitution. As we have seen before, he prefers to act by force.”

Crypto is set to increase its influence in Washington as the very elections themselves are at risk of tampering and interference from the highest levels of government.

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