The world’s biggest cryptocurrency had risen as far as $70,000 on Monday after Republican presidential nominee Trump promised friendlier regulations when speaking at the Bitcoin Conference over the weekend.
But Bitcoin swiftly reversed course, falling 4.8% in the past 24 hours to $66,507.4 by 08:25 ET (12:25 GMT).
Bitcoin’s losses were exacerbated by media reports that the U.S. government had moved $2 billion worth of seized Bitcoin on Monday, sparking renewed concerns over more selling pressure on the token.
A wallet associated with the government was seen transferring 29,800 tokens to two different addresses, potentially to a custody service. But a movement of tokens usually precedes a sale, as seen with the Mt Gox exchange earlier in July.
Fears of selling pressure stemming from distributions from Mt Gox had driven Bitcoin as low as $54,000, although the token had since rebounded and was headed for a monthly gain in July.
The U.S. government reportedly holds about $12 billion worth of confiscated tokens, a bulk of them coming from the now defunct Silk Road marketplace.
Trump vowed that the government will not sell any of its holdings in the event of his presidency. But he also stopped shy of declaring plans to create a strategic reserve of Bitcoin.
Still, the former President said he will loosen regulatory conditions for crypto and foster the industry better than Democratic frontrunner Kamala Harris.
Broader cryptocurrency prices trended lower on Tuesday in tandem with Bitcoin, with caution before a Federal Reserve meeting also factoring into pressures on prices.
World no.2 token Ether fell 1.4% to $3,335.05, taking little support from the recent launch of spot exchange-traded funds.
XRP rose around 4%, while ADA and SOL sank 3.3% and 6%, respectively. Among meme tokens, DOGE fell 3.5% while SHIB lost 2.5%.
Crypto was caught in a broader risk-off sentiment as caution persisted before the conclusion of a Fed meeting on Wednesday.
While the central bank is widely expected to keep rates unchanged, traders will be watching whether the bank signals any plans to cut interest rates.
In other crypto-related developments, new filings indicated that the U.S. SEC may drop its charges against certain third-party tokens, including Solana‘s SOL and Polygon’s MATIC, which have been part of its case against Binance.
According to a court filing early Tuesday, the SEC has informed the defendants, Binance and its affiliated entities, that it “intends to seek leave to amend its complaint, including with respect to the ‘Third Party Crypto Asset Securities’… obviating the need for the Court to issue a ruling as to the sufficiency of the allegations as to those tokens at this time.”
This issue gained attention during a July 9 hearing when Binance’s attorneys interpreted Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s June 28 ruling on Binance’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s case as excluding third-party tokens from the case.
However, the judge clarified that this was not her intention. Third-party tokens are digital assets issued by companies other than Binance but listed on its exchange. The 10 tokens named in the SEC’s complaint are SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, ATOM, SAND, MANA, ALGO, AXS, and COTI. The SEC had alleged that these tokens are unregistered securities.
The Tuesday filing was a court-ordered joint response outlining both parties’ positions on how to proceed. The judge was expected to review the role of third-party tokens in the SEC’s ongoing case against Binance. However, it now appears that the SEC may be changing its position and could drop this part of its allegations.
As a result, the defense wants to see the amended complaint before proceeding with the discovery process.
“Until defendants have a set of proposed amended allegations in front of them, it is premature and unreasonable for the SEC to expect them to agree to conduct merits discovery for claims on which the SEC may soon seek leave to amend its allegations,” the filing stated.
Source: Cryptocurrency - investing.com
