The world’s biggest cryptocurrency briefly broke below a key support level on Thursday, but managed to recover above $60,000, albeit briefly. Broader crypto markets were also mostly subdued.
Bitcoin fell 0.5% to $60,645.7 by 01:59 ET (05:59 GMT). The token was trading down 2.3% this week.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged crypto market maker Cumberland DRW with acting as an unregistered dealer for over $2 billion in crypto assets since 2018.
The move is the latest in the SEC’s long-running crackdown against what it perceives as multiple violations of securities law in the crypto industry.
The agency is currently engaged in lawsuits against exchanges Kraken and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) over allegations of breach of security law, on the grounds that crypto tokens fall under securities law.
The case against Cumberland ramped up concerns over more regulatory action against the crypto industry.
Recent speculation over a mass token sale by the U.S. government- of the nearly 64,000 Bitcoin confiscated from the Silk Road website- had also dented crypto prices.
On the regulatory front, markets are now focused squarely on the 2024 presidential election, where pro-crypto, Republican candidate Donald Trump faces a tight race with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Harris is expected to likely continue the Biden administration’s crackdown against crypto.
Risk appetite was also dented by hotter-than-expected consumer price index inflation data released on Thursday, which furthered bets on a slower pace of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Relatively higher for longer interest rates bode poorly for speculative assets such as crypto.
The dollar raced to two-month highs this week, further pressuring crypto valuations.
Still, markets maintained bets that the Fed will still cut interest rates, at least by 25 basis points in November. Some soft readings on the labor market furthered this notion.
Among broader crypto prices, most major altcoins tread water on Friday and were set for mild weekly losses.
World no.2 crypto Ether steadied at $2,406.02. SOL, ADA and XRP rose marginally, as did MATIC.
Among meme tokens, DOGE lost 0.5%.
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