Bitcoin holds above $80,000 as Zcash jumps 12% in post-election crypto rebound

Bitcoin held above $80,000 on Thursday as cryptocurrencies joined a broader market rebound after Democrats won both houses of Congress, with Zcash leading gains among the largest tokens.

BTC traded around $80,484 during Asian morning hours, up 5.7% over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. Ether rose 8% to about $2,425, while XRP gained 4.7% to $1.31 and solana climbed 5.9% to $96. BNB added 4.2% to roughly $715.

Zcash rose 11.7% to about $1,318, with $1.2 billion changing hands over the preceding day. The network allows users to make encrypted payments that conceal the sender, recipient and amount.

The recovery followed an initial selloff as election results came in. Bitcoin briefly fell toward $75,700 early Wednesday before buyers returned, as CoinDesk reported.

“Bitcoin has rebounded in line with stocks as the market believes that the Iran conflict and high oil prices are more likely to come to an end,” Jeff Mei, chief operating officer at crypto exchange BTSE, told CoinDesk.

Brent crude fell more than 8% Wednesday as investors bet that Democratic control of Congress would increase pressure to end the Middle East conflict. Lower energy prices could ease inflation and costs for businesses. U.S. stocks rallied, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.6%, while the dollar weakened.

Asia’s response was less uniform. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell more than 6% during Thursday trading as investors weighed tighter scrutiny of data centers. Chinese internet shares rallied, with Tencent and Alibaba gaining more than 5%.

Mei cautioned that the election result could complicate crypto’s legislative ambitions.

“The CLARITY act in its current form is unlikely to pass, and interest rate cuts are still unlikely to occur,” he said. The bill would establish rules for how U.S. cryptocurrency markets are regulated.

Zcash’s rally also came against a cautious assessment of the election from within its own community.

A policy memo posted on the Zcash forum Wednesday warned that financial privacy and illicit finance could face greater scrutiny under the incoming Congress — making the case for private payments through consumer safety, business confidentiality and civil liberties.

The rally also comes ahead of NU7, Zcash’s next network upgrade, expected around Friday. It will cut the target time between blocks, the batches of transactions added to the blockchain, from 75 seconds to 25.

That could get deposits credited sooner. An exchange waiting for three confirmations would see the expected wait fall from nearly four minutes to about 75 seconds, assuming it keeps that requirement unchanged.

Meanwhile, Mei advised traders to watch proposed amendments to the CLARITY Act and whether Congress pursues crypto-related investigations. The new Democratic majorities take office Jan. 3.