Bitcoin slid below $74,000 in late Sunday trade, touching its lowest price since August as investors worried that a Democratic-controlled United States Congress will tighten regulation of cryptocurrencies.

The largest cryptocurrency by market value fell by more than 2% to $73,708, according to Reuters. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, dropped about 5% to $2,223, also its lowest since August.

The slide came in the final hours of a quiet weekend session. Bitcoin had spent most of Sunday trading close to $75,800, holding just above its 50-week average, before sellers took control in the evening. Within about an hour it dropped 2.89% to $73,704, with a session low of $73,333.

Leveraged traders hit hardest

The speed of the move forced leveraged traders out of their positions. In the space of an hour, $90.8 million of leveraged bitcoin long positions were closed by force, against only $1.8 million of short positions, according to liquidation data tracked by ByKaranteli.

Ether traders suffered worse. About $370.9 million of leveraged positions were wiped out across the market in an hour, and 98% of them were bets on prices rising. Ether longs alone lost $176.4 million, including two of the largest single liquidations on Binance, worth $17.6 million and $12.2 million.

The drop also pushed bitcoin below the average purchase price of Strategy, the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency, whose cost basis stands at $75,451 per coin. The company held 849,327 bitcoin as of 1 November.

Politics and the Binance heist weigh on sentiment

Reuters reported that crypto markets have been shaken in recent sessions by two developments: a $6 billion heist at Binance, the world's biggest exchange, and the election of high-profile crypto critics in last week's US midterm elections.

Democrats swept both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, and traders are now braced for tougher scrutiny of the asset class, including the long-delayed CLARITY Act market-structure legislation. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index stood at 28, in fear territory.

Bitcoin was heading for a fifth consecutive weekly loss, having fallen about 3% over the week. Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $1.28 billion of outflows last week, and the next test comes on Tuesday, when the United States releases October consumer price figures. Markets are also pricing in a roughly 78% chance of a Federal Reserve rate rise in December, which tends to weigh on risk assets.

For now, traders are watching whether bitcoin can hold above its 200-day moving average near $73,200. A break below it would leave the price at its weakest level since the summer, while a recovery above $75,000 would restore the range it held for most of the weekend.