Crypto Tidbits: Bitcoin Slides Under $10,000, JP Morgan & Ethereum, and the US' Cryptocurrency Crackdown

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Another week, another round of Crypto Tidbits. If you look at the below chart, it may seem like Bitcoin had a subdued week in terms of price action; however, the past few days for this budding market has been filled with ups and downs, like the surge to $10,600, then the subsequent strong retracement to $9,700 on Saturday morning as bulls failed to keep up the pressure.

Whatever the case, BTC ends the past seven days up a mere 0.33%. Though, Bitcoin’s non-performance on the week is abnormal, with altcoins such as XRP and Ethereum exhibiting massive gains of over 10%, despite the relative stagnation in the cryptocurrency market’s leader.

This trend has resulted in Bitcoin dominance tanking by a handful of percent — a trend actually impressive for a market worth hundreds of billions.

Aside from the market, the underlying cryptocurrency industry saw a relatively productive week, with there being a number of news stories showing the growth and adoption of these technologies, though others casting light on issues in crypto.

Bitcoin & Crypto Tidbits

Pro-Bitcoin Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Leaves Race: If you’ve been on Twitter over the past few months, you’ve likely heard the name Andrew Yang mentioned many a time. Yang is a businessman-turned-presidential candidate who decided to try and leverage his experience creating jobs and building companies, joining the race to become the President of the United States. A key part of his campaign has been technology, and unsurprisingly, Bitcoin and blockchain have been mentioned. Yang has expressed his support for the technology, on one occasion posting a photo of him and Litecoin’s Charlie Lee, and on other occasions mentioning how he believes blockchain and cryptocurrency are a positive technological class for the future. Unfortunately for Bitcoin bulls optimistic about a Yang presidency (which would likely be marked by better crypto regulation), the candidate dropped out of the race over the past week after a poor showing in a Democratic primary.
JP Morgan May Dip Toes Into Ethereum, Again: This week, Reuters reported that one of the world’s largest financial institutions, JP Morgan, is looking to merge its blockchain unit called “Quorum” with the New York-based Ethereum development studio ConsenSys. On why this is bullish for ETH, market commentator Satoshi Flipper said:

“So why is this so bullish for ETH? Because cash is king and JPMorgan has much of it. With the pending release of 2.0, JPMorgan could desire an increased presence in the enterprise blockchain arena. And Ethereum is a quick ticket to get there,” he explained while referencing the news report.

Treasury Secretary Confirms Crypto Crackdown: Last year, after Libra launched, Steven Mnuchin, the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, said that cryptocurrencies pose a “risk to the financial system” and are a “national security issue.” It seems that Mnuchin has begun to respond to the rising threat. Speaking during a hearing held by the Senate Finance Committee, Munchin said that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) branch of the Treasury will soon roll out “significant new requirements” for cryptocurrencies and the respective providers of Bitcoin trading and so on and so forth. He did not expand on these comments, though a recent budget proposal from the White House indicated that a crackdown is coming regarding crypto’s use in money laundering and terrorist financing.
Federal Reserve Working on Digital Currency… Finally: In Tuesday’s meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, Powell said that the central bank for America has started to really get to work on digital currency efforts:

We’re working hard on it, we have a lot of projects going on, lot of efforts going on on that right now.
CNBC Anchors Show Interest In Bitcoin: This week, the anchors of CNBC’s “Fast Money” show showed optimism towards the prospects of Bitcoin. Host Timothy Seymour, CIO of Seymour Asset Management, argued that Bitcoin’s recent uptrend is a result of developments in institutional involvement in the cryptocurrency space. Another anchor on the panel said a world where central banks are devaluing their money to keep the economy “healthy” is a world where Bitcoin “wins”:

In a world where central bankers are tripping over themselves to devalue their currency, Bitcoin wins. In a world of fiat currencies, Bitcoin is the victor.

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