Why is the Dow Jones tumbling while Bitcoin and altcoins are rising?

Bitcoin and altcoins continued soaring on Thursday, even as the US stock market downturn continued.

Bitcoin (BTC) jumped to a record high of $111,860, while the market cap of all cryptocurrencies jumped to $3.5 trillion. In contrast, the Dow opened lower by around 100 points, adding to Wednesday’s 816 point drop.

Bitcoin and altcoins are climbing after the U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act, a first-of-its-kind cryptocurrency regulation focused on stablecoins.

The legislation requires stablecoin issuers to maintain 100 percent reserve backing with high-quality assets such as U.S. Treasuries and the dollar. It also mandates monthly disclosures detailing reserve composition.

Other provisions include federal and state oversight. Stablecoin issuers with assets above 10 billion dollars will be regulated at the federal level, while states will oversee smaller issuers with less than 10 billion dollars in assets.

The passage of the GENIUS Act is significant, as it helps safeguard the crypto industry, especially following the collapse of Terra in 2022 and other major failures, like FTX. It also provides long-awaited legal clarity.

Bitcoin as a safe haven after the US credit rating downgrade

Bitcoin and altcoins are rising because investors see BTC as a safe haven asset after Moody’s downgraded the US credit rating. 

The safe-haven appeal has pushed investors into spot Bitcoin ETFs, which have added over $4.2 billion in inflows this month, bringing the cumulative total to $43 billion.

In its statement, Moody’s pointed to the rising US debt and interest payments and the policies in Washington. 

For example, the House of Representatives passed the “big, beautiful bill” that will add around $3.8 trillion in additional debt, according to some estimates.

The bill extends the 2017 tax cuts and introduces new ones, including deductions on tips and overtime pay. It also expands the child tax credit and includes a new senior tax relief of 4,000 dollars.

Fears over the rising U.S. debt and deficit have led investors to pull back from U.S. assets, especially equities. The U.S. Dollar Index has dropped to 99.6, while bond yields have surged. The 30-year yield rose to 5.1 percent, and the 10-year climbed to 4.6 percent.

Bitcoin price has strong technicals

Bitcoin’s breakout is also supported by technical indicators. On the daily chart, it has formed a cup and handle pattern while narrowly avoiding a death cross. A death cross occurs when the 50-day and 200-day moving averages cross while trending downward. This same setup nearly played out in August last year but was avoided.

The cup pattern has a depth of about 30 percent. Measuring that distance from the breakout level suggests potential gains toward 141,000 dollars.