Crypto bubble floats towards Mamdani pin

WHAT'S WRONG WITH crypto? Bitcoin is down 25% since October to less than $100,000, underperforming gold and equities, while crypto stocks Circle Internet Group and Bullish have also fallen from their highs. Risk appetite is depressed, longtime holders are cashing out, and flows into exchange-traded funds are slowing.

- LIONEL LAURENT

The hype over corporate buyers of Bitcoin is also deflating, with some starting to sell.

Perhaps one answer lies in US politics. Last year's election of Donald Trump was the game-changerthat first took Bitcoin above $100,000, as he rode a wave of high expectations and big donations - promising to make America the "crypto capital of the world" by rolling back regulation and injecting digital assets into the machinery of state. It may be no coincidence that political and market bubbles are popping together in the wake of electoral setbacks for MAGA, including Zohran Mamdani's New York success railing against wealthy elites in a city vying to be a crypto hub.