Bitcoin just dropped to its lowest level since late August. The crypto market took a hit after Republicans shot down Democrats’ CLARITY Act proposal, and all eyes are now on a key Senate vote expected in the next few hours.

What happened

The sell-off sparked a wave of liquidations: in just one hour, over $109,000,000 in long positions got wiped out. The move hammered major trading pairs and cranked up intraday volatility across the board.

Liquidations and whale moves

Over on Binance, a whale saw a massive $11.7M ETH/USDT long get liquidated in a single order. The episode shows just how brutal forced liquidations can be—and how leveraged trades react to sudden price swings.

Political backdrop

The trigger was Republicans refusing to back the Democrats’ CLARITY Act proposal. With a Senate vote coming up in the next few hours, the market’s still on edge and the news cycle is keeping traders nervous.