Bitcoin is now down 50% from its record highs in mid-December, plunging to an $8000 handle this morning following headlines from India (which appear to have been misunderstood)…
Bitcoin is at its lowest level since Nov 26th 2017…
Specific catalysts for the latest leg lowere are unclear but perhaps there is some anxiety ahead of next week’s US regulatory hearings. As CoinTelegraph reports, the US’s two major financial regulatory authorities have announced that they will hold a dedicated hearing on virtual currencies on February 6, 2018.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will meet to discuss what an advance notice describes as their “oversight role”, as the industry becomes an increasingly prioritized focus of lawmakers around the world.
SEC chairman Jay Clayton will join CFTC chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo as chief witnesses.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies entered the public spotlight anew during last week’s World Economic Forum (WEF) 2018, with senior politicians from various major economies stating their intention to heighten legislative interaction.
Calls for an international effort on crypto regulation have received support from France, Germany and others, the stage likely to be set for a major discussion during the G20 Summit in Argentina in March 2018.
Clayton and Giancarlo have both also been vocal on the topic of cryptocurrency, discussing at length what they consider is the “task” of regulators in a co-authored article published in the Wall Street Journal during the WEF event.
“The CFTC and SEC, along with other federal and state regulators and criminal authorities, will continue to work together to bring transparency and integrity to these markets and, importantly, to deter and prosecute fraud and abuse,” they concluded in the article, adding:
“These markets are new, evolving and international. As such they require us to be nimble and forward-looking[.]”
Earlier this month, the SEC told Wall Street trade groups it had “outstanding questions” about how their Bitcoin-based ETFs and mutual funds were regulation-compliant, and asked the sponsors to withdraw registration statements.
While all cryptos are tumbling today, we note that Bitcoin is down 36% YTD and Ethereum is up 38% YTD…
And finally, one more reminder, while Bitcoin’s drop is large, it fits the seasonal norm…
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