Cryptocurrency bulls took a run at regaining control of the market yesterday and failed.
The reversal is not unconnected to reports that some of the biggest names from the cryptocurrency sector will appear before U.S. lawmakers today following calls for regulators to impose stricter rules on the rapidly-growing market.
The bitcoin price rose to almost $52,000 per bitcoin before falling back and is now back under the closely-watched $50,000 level, dropping almost 5% since this time yesterday, even after the Nasdaq recorded its best day since March.
The rest of the crypto top ten, as measured by CoinMarketCap, is also trading lower.
Ethereum is down 3% with its rivals Binance’s BNB, solana, cardano, polkadot and terra’s luna all down between 4% and 10%.
Outside of the top ten, some smaller cryptocurrencies have bucked the trend with polygon’s matic rising 1% and chainlink soaring over 10% after Chainlink Labs announced former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has joined the company as a “strategic advisor”.
24-hour crypto market snapshot
Bitcoin (-4%) $49,299
Ethereum (-3%) $4,265
Luna (-10%) $66.15
Chainlink (+8%) $21.67
The Washington hearing comes after some serious volatility on crypto markets rattled traders and investors over the weekend. This year, the huge rise in cryptocurrency value along with a whole host of new ways to trade has triggered a wave of speculation from the public and amateur traders hoping to get in early on the next viral cryptocurrency. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler once again called for greater regulation of crypto markets, calling it an asset class “rife with fraud, scams, and abuse.”
This hearing won’t directly result in any new legislation but will likely generate some big headlines and is an opportunity for some high-profile political point scoring on both sides. Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), who chairs the House Committee on Financial Services and will lead the hearing, is likely to call upon the executives to do more to protect their users.
The six witnesses appearing before the committee today are:
- – Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Circle, issuer of the USDC stablecoin.
- – Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of the FTX crypto exchange and big solana backer.
- – Brian Brooks, CEO of blockchain technology company Bitfury and former acting Comptroller of the Currency and CEO of Binance.US.
- – Charles Cascarilla, co-founder and CEO of stablecoin issuer Paxos, a blockchain infrastructure platform and financial services company.
- – Denelle Dixon, CEO and executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of the stellar blockchain and cryptocurrency.
- – Alesia Jeanne Haas, the chief financial officer of Coinbase, filing in for CEO Brian Armstrong, who’s been a vocal critic of crypto laws and regulations.
Meanwhile… One of crypto’s biggest advocate’s on Capitol Hill, senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has reportedly told Coindesk in an interview that she’s working on a comprehensive digital asset bill with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, saying: “You will see a major piece of legislation in the next days and weeks.”
The bill, according to a report by The Information, will “address crypto-related banking, consumer protection and anti-crime measures,” as well as a “correction” to the recently passed infrastructure bill that included a controversial crypto tax provision that will significantly broaden the definition of a cryptocurrency broker.