Bitcoin (BTC) Slips Below $23,000 As Crypto Regulation Rumors Spread
In the early hours of Thursday, Bitcoin (BTC) the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, sank to a four-week low. The crypto asset slipped below its hovering $23,000 price range to as low as $22,408 before climbing back to its current price.
Regulators Pestering The Industry?
Bitcoin’s slump below its $23,000 range is due to the ongoing crypto regulation rumors circulating in the industry. On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that a top U.S. financial regulator is currently investigating crypto exchange Kraken over a suggestion that it breaking security rules related to certain offerings to U.S. customers.
Bloomberg further noted citing a person with knowledge of the matter that the investigation is at an advanced stage and could result in a settlement within the coming days.
Hours after that, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong voiced out via a five-tweet thread, rumors concerning the SEC wanting to get rid of crypto staking in the U.S. for retail customers. Brian said, “I hope that’s not the case as I believe it would be a terrible path for the U.S. if that was allowed to happen.”
Brian further expressed the importance of staking in the industry saying, “staking is a really important innovation in crypto. It allows users to participate directly in running open crypto networks. Staking brings many positive improvements to the space, including scalability, increased security, and reduced carbon footprints.”
Bitcoin (BTC) Slips, More Dip?
Bitcoin has always been vulnerable to being influenced by the happenings in the industry. Its bearish movement today comes after a lot of investors and traders seemed convinced of an ongoing bull run that could take it back to its peak and beyond.
In January, BTC price surged nearly 40% bringing it to its current crossing of the $20,000 mark. Following its slump below the $23,000 region, Bitcoin has lost a couple of billion from its market cap. Between Wednesday to today, Bitcoin’s market cap has fallen from $442 billion to $432 billion, losing roughly $10 billion in market capitalization.
Overall, while looking at the price chart and fundamental analysis, Bitcoin should still fall to a low of $22,300, given the liquidity at that range. Should Bitcoin continue with a downward movement after reaching the $22,300 zone, we could see Bitcoin touch a one-month low of $21,000.
Furthermore, Bitcoin still stands steadily as the largest crypto by market cap accounting for approximately 41.21% of the global crypto market dominance followed by Ethereum at 18.83% dominance making it the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
As the crypto regulation rumor intensifies, Ethereum has lost 2.41% of its value with a current trading price of $1,633, after nearly crossing the $1,700 mark on Wednesday.
Featured image from Shutterstock, Chart from TradingView
