The crypto market experienced significant pressure on Thursday, falling 1.6% as hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data fueled fears of prolonged high interest rates. According to CoinGlass data, the total crypto market capitalization dropped to around $2.58 trillion over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin dropped below the key $80,000 level, sliding from this week's high near $82,300 to an intraday low around $79,600 before recovering slightly near $79,800. Ethereum declined nearly 2% toward the $2,260 region, while major altcoins including Solana, XRP, BNB, Toncoin, and Hyperliquid posted losses ranging between 2% and 6%. The selloff accelerated after the U.S. Producer Price Index surged 6% year-over-year, significantly above market expectations, reinforcing fears that the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates elevated for longer.
According to a survey released Wednesday by Politico and polling firm Public First, only 4% of 2,035 U.S. adults said a political candidate's stance on crypto policy would influence how they vote. The survey found that affordable housing, consumer fraud protection, and lower bank fees ranked as the top issues respondents wanted Congress to address. Public First also found that just 18% of respondents viewed establishing rules for the crypto market as a top congressional priority, with regulation of large banks ranking slightly lower at 17%.
Despite the low voter ranking, crypto industry groups have continued pouring money into U.S. elections ahead of the 2026 midterms. Data compiled by researcher Molly White showed crypto lobby organizations spent more than $130 million during the 2024 election cycle and have already directed another $320 million toward influencing the November midterms. According to the same data reviewed by Politico, crypto-backed groups spent more than $5.5 million targeting opposing candidates in congressional races in Illinois earlier this year.
Within the same Public First survey, only 27% of respondents said they supported or strongly supported government efforts to legitimize crypto as a mainstream financial asset, while another 31% said they opposed or strongly opposed such measures. More than half of respondents said they had never traded crypto and would not consider doing so in the future. Only 19% said they had traded crypto, while 7% of crypto traders said a candidate's crypto stance would directly affect their vote. Risk appetite appeared limited among respondents, with 45% viewing crypto investing as a risk not worth taking, even if high returns were possible.
According to a report published Tuesday by Moody's Ratings, discussions with U.S. banks and financial market intermediaries showed that most institutions now see tokenization as an eventual part of the financial system, although uncertainty remains around timing and the order in which adoption could unfold. Morgan Stanley appointed veteran executive Amy Oldenburg earlier this year to lead a newly formed crypto unit, coming weeks after the bank disclosed plans to introduce three crypto exchange-traded funds and a crypto wallet offering. The tokenized real-world asset market has expanded more than 420% since the start of 2025, reaching $31.6 billion as of Thursday. Moody's identified three possible paths for tokenization adoption: a steady growth scenario where adoption expands gradually through products like stablecoins, a slower adoption outcome limited by legal uncertainty, and a rapid-growth scenario that could pressure payment processors and smaller banks if stablecoins become widely used for settlement.
