Category: Cryptocurrency News

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has allegedly held up assistance needed in a congressional bill to regulate the crypto markets. This has been considered a potential hurdle if the bill is to pass in Congress. Through multiple sources, the Block found that the SEC has yet to provide sufficient technical assistance for the bill after almost six weeks of request. The report stated that this appears to be the case despite the supposed commission’s good communication with the House.  SEC officials have recently provided briefings to the staff of Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee. These briefings reportedly covered their opinions on digital asset regulation in light of the committee’s upcoming consideration of bills to establish a comprehensive framework for cryptocurrency markets in the United States. Related Reading: Arkansas Senator Calls For Reversal Of Controversial New Crypto Mining Law While the Securities and Exchange Commission seems to be dragging its feet in responding to the House’s request, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is said to have been receptive so far, providing the congressional staff with some technical assistance. Final Draft Of Crypto Market Bill To Be Unveiled  Various House committees have been working together for months to create a new bill for crypto markets in the country. This crypto market bill, led primarily by Republican members, is expected to direct the U.S. market regulators on how a digital asset can transition from a security to a commodity.  Additionally, it would temporarily confer the Commodity Futures Trading Commission superior power over crypto commodities markets – mainly Bitcoin trading. A final draft of this multi-committee bill will reportedly be introduced today, July 20, 2023. This is in anticipation of a committee debate and vote next week. Initially, a committee debate and amendment process for the Financial Services Committee part of the bill was scheduled on Wednesday, July 19. However, this “markup” has been rescheduled to the following week to allow enough time for additional review by committee members. Senators Urge SEC Chairman To Crack Down On Crypto Companies On Wednesday, July 19, two prominent figures in the U.S. Senate criticized the crypto industry, pressing the Securities and Exchange Commission to be more aggressive in its regulatory style.  Democrat Senator Dick Durbin D-III condemned the activities of crypto companies in the United States. The government official said: They spent billions on sports arena or stadium naming rights deals to gain misguided credibility with everyday Americans and manipulate prices with phony tokens of no underlying value. Related Reading: Terraform Labs Appoints New CEO Following Do Kwon’s Sentencing In Montenegro Senator John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, asked Gensler why there was “no emergency injunction to force the bankrupt FTX exchange to halt its operations before collapsing last November.”  The SEC chairman responded, saying: We investigate by the book. You, I’m sure, and the American public, want us to follow the facts, follow the law, properly get people subpoenas. Although Gensler agreed with the Senators’ claims about the crypto industry and the need for more policies, he made a case for the underlying technology. Meanwhile, he took the opportunity to request more funding for his agency. Crypto Total Market Cap at $1.16 trillion | Source: TOTAL chart from TradingView Featured image from Tekedia, chart from TradingView

Brian Brooks has worked as Coinbase’s chief legal officer, acting comptroller of the currency, CEO of Binance.US and CEO of Bitfury.

Digital asset management platform Blofin has released a report that explores the changing narrative of the cryptocurrency market, focusing on the diverging correlation between Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).  The report suggests that BTC is becoming an increasingly prominent macro underlying asset, approaching the status of traditional assets such as foreign exchange and precious metals, while ETH’s narrative is shifting towards mega stocks. BTC Gaining Prominence As Macro Underlying Asset According to the report, the attractiveness of ETH for liquidity may continue to be weaker than that of BTC, especially in the current era of “lack of liquidity,” unless there is a grander narrative and widespread application.  Moreover, the report notes that a new Crypto 3.0 narrative has emerged, which combines macro trading, artificial intelligence (AI), and other factors. The report suggests that BTC’s macro attributes have been continuously strengthened by existing and external liquidity preferences, with the Bitcoin network becoming a natural macro underlying asset. Related Reading: Terraform Labs Appoints New CEO Following Do Kwon’s Sentencing In Montenegro The report also highlights the importance of BTC being a fully compliant asset, unlike ETH, which has not been recognized as a security by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  This ambiguity around ETH’s status implies risk, while BTC has been identified as a commodity. Institutions are less likely to take risks on compliance, making BTC the preferred choice for many investors. Last but not least, the report also considers three scenarios for the future price of BTC, depending on changes in interest rates and market expectations.  The most optimistic scenario involves a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) passing and pushing BTC’s market share up to 60%, resulting in a market cap of $960b and a unit price of over $49,400.  However, if investors have no better expectations and the crypto market capitalization is limited, the market capitalization of BTC will fluctuate between $600-$700b, and the price will fluctuate between $30,880-$36,026. Caution Until Bitcoin Can Sustain Above $32,000 Capriole Invest, a leading provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investment strategies, has released its latest Bitcoin Macro Index report.  The report provides a comprehensive and data-driven analysis of the current state of the cryptocurrency market, combining over 40 powerful on-chain, macro market, and equity indicators into a single machine-learning model. The report reveals that Bitcoin is facing significant resistance at the $32,000 mark, despite a series of positive news stories for the industry in recent weeks.  While the Blackrock ETF announcement, XRP legal victory, and backing from presidential candidate Kennedy for backing the US Dollar with Bitcoin have all made headlines, they have not been able to sustain momentum above $31,000. Related Reading: Arkansas Senator Calls For Reversal Of Controversial New Crypto Mining Law According to the report, until Bitcoin can convincingly sustain price levels above $32,000, it is prudent to be conservative in the upper $30,000 region. On the high timeframe technicals, Bitcoin has failed to break out of weekly resistance at $32,000, suggesting a greater area of opportunity on a $32,000 break or reversion to the mid-$20,000s. The report concludes that while opportunities for trades may exist if the range lows can hold on to the lower time-frames at the end of the day, the risk-reward opportunity is not present for high-conviction investments. Despite a 50% increase in Bitcoin’s mining network in the last six months, long-term value remains, but now is probably not the time to go all-in. At present, Bitcoin is facing a challenge to maintain its position above the crucial $30,000 line, which is a fundamental psychological level for investors with a positive outlook for the cryptocurrency.  The leading digital asset in the market is currently trading at $29,750, indicating a 0.8% decline in the past 24 hours. Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView.com

Terraform filed a motion to access information from wallets used by short sellers during the collapse of its algorithmic stablecoin in 2022.