Business News | Ethereum is Down Roughly a Quarter Since Trump’s Return, and India is Feeling the Chill

Ethereum price pressure following Washington developments

The US Senate just blocked the CLARITY Act, Ethereum has slipped past its inauguration-day level and India’s own crypto rulebook is still going nowhere in committee. Ethereum has backtracked since Donald Trump made his way back to the White House. That’s despite two years of upbeat talk on crypto and a major stablecoin law coming through. On October 8, 2026, it was trading around $2,422.08, according to live data from Binance, the world's leading blockchain ecosystem, far from when Trump stepped into office.

For Indian readers, the Ethereum to INR rate is the number that’s easy to focus on. As of October 8, 2026, one ETH was worth ₹234,486.76, down 4.83% from a day earlier. Ethereum is still listed as the second-biggest crypto by market value, about $295 billion that day. So, how did we get here? The simple answer is that Washington made a lot of promises, delivered some, but didn't deliver on the main event.

Trump administration actions and legislative hurdles

Ethereum dropped from around $3,400 on Trump’s inauguration day to about $2,532 now, a 25% slide. There was a record high along the way. Back on January 20, 2025, ETH hovered near $3,400, as traders bet hard on friendlier rules. Then things changed. In August 2025, it skyrocketed to $4,953.73, an all-time high, so all that optimism felt justified for a bit, according to Yahoo Finance. Of course, the rally fizzled out. Over the past year, Ethereum has gone down around 46.57%, based on Binance's price tracker as of October 8, 2026.

Trump managed to get the first federal stablecoin law through, created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and moved to set up a separate pile for other tokens. However, no full market-structure law. In January 2025, he rolled out an executive order on digital assets. By March, he followed up with a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile. His last order categorised Ethereum and some other tokens as “Stockpile Assets”: Assets the government can hold, but not buy, at least according to a factsheet shared by the White House. And then, on July 18, 2025, the GENIUS Act passed: Now stablecoins need to be completely backed by liquid assets, according to official records from the White House.

Trump’s thrown support behind Ethereum more than once, but never really with a plan behind it. In March 2025, he said it best: “I also love Bitcoin and Ethereum!”, according to his own post on the social media platform Truth Social. That comment was enough to spark a brief rally. And Trump-linked World Liberty Financial has been buying: Data from Nansen shows it added about $340 million worth of ETH between January 18 and February 1, 2025. Support helps, but words and even big moves haven’t been enough to keep the price up.

On September 15, the Senate stalled the CLARITY Act, with the vote going 49-50 on a measure that needed 60, according to public records from the Senate. Senator Cynthia Lummis, the lead sponsor, had said up front: “if cloture fails, it’s over”, according to Yahoo Finance. The Act would have split oversight of digital assets between the SEC and CFTC. Once the vote wrapped, Bitcoin slipped almost 4%, from around $77,200 to $75,600, and Ethereum went right down as well, according to the Crypto Times. It’s not a complete dead end. Just two days later, the CFTC filed two crypto rulemakings with the White House, using their current powers, according to a public statement by CFTC. Agency rules are easier to reverse than laws, but they’re still rules.

Market conditions and the regulatory climate in India

Ethereum’s leaning just above $2,500 after a rough week. On October 7, 2026, it dropped about 5%, which triggered around $252 million in futures liquidations, according to Coinglass. News has been pretty mixed. At Token2049 in Singapore, BitMine chairman Thomas Lee said the company will stop buying once it holds 5% of ETH’s circulating supply. This is coming up, since it already holds over six million ETH, according to Yahoo Finance. That’s likely to cut back a steady source of demand soon.

India hasn’t changed anything. The day after the US vote, on September 16, 2026, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance finished its final oral evidence session on virtual digital assets. Still no bill and no new policy, according to the Crypto Times. Committee chair Bhartruhari Mahtab put it plainly. The government, he said, “not accepting virtual digital assets, does not want to regulate it,” and by leaving the rules so vague, you leave the door open to misuse, according to the Tribune. In the meantime, the 30% tax on gains and 1% TDS are still in force. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman didn’t change either in the February 2026 Budget, according to Yahoo Finance.

Indians are exposed to decisions in America, and meanwhile they don’t get any crypto security at home. About 91.5% of Indian trading volume happens on offshore platforms, according to numbers from September 2026 reported by PA News. This means both tax revenue and consumer protection go missing overseas.

If you’re holding ETH, a few things really matter: Prices follow what happens globally. A Senate vote in Washington shows up in rupee prices the same day. Tax rules don’t budge. Whatever happens to Ethereum, gains still get taxed at 30% and every trade gets hit by that 1% TDS. Where you trade matters. Platforms registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit keep your records cleaner.