Investing.com–Bitcoin’s price rose slightly on Friday, with limited action amid pressure from concerns over more regulatory action, while higher-than-expected U.S. inflation data also weighed on bets on lower rate cuts.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency briefly fell below a key support level on Thursday, but managed to recover above $60,000, albeit briefly. Broader crypto markets have also been mostly subdued.
rose 0.6% to $61,403.0 as of 09:26 ET (13:26 GMT). The token was trading down 2.3% this week.
Crypto shaken by SEC vs. Cumberland case
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday accused crypto market maker Cumberland DRW of acting as an unregistered broker-dealer for more than $2 billion in crypto assets since 2018.
The move is the latest in the SEC’s long-running crackdown on what it perceives to be multiple securities law violations in the crypto industry.
The agency is currently engaged in lawsuits against the Kraken and Coinbase (NASDAQ:) exchanges for alleged violations of the Securities Act, on the grounds that crypto tokens fall under the Securities Act.
The case against Cumberland has increased concerns about more regulatory action against the crypto industry.
Recent speculation about a massive token sale by the US government – of nearly 64,000 Bitcoins confiscated from the Silk Road website – has also driven down cryptocurrency prices.
On the regulatory front, markets are now squarely focused on the 2024 presidential election, where pro-crypto Republican candidate Donald Trump faces a tight race with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Harris is likely to continue the Biden administration’s crackdown on crypto.
Crypto exchange Bitnomial sues SEC
In other crypto developments, cryptocurrency exchange Bitnomial has filed a lawsuit against the SEC, accusing the agency of overstepping its authority by attempting to regulate a proposed XRP futures contract in conjunction with Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
In a filing Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Bitnomial argued that the CFTC should have exclusive jurisdiction over futures contracts and that involving the SEC would significantly increase its regulatory burden. The exchange had self-certified the XRP futures contracts on August 9, confirming that they did not violate CFTC regulations.
“Bitnomial disagrees with the SEC’s view that XRP is an investment contract and, therefore, a security, and that XRP futures contracts are therefore security futures contracts” , says the file.
This lawsuit mirrors a similar suit filed by Crypto.com earlier in the week. In this case, the exchange responded to a warning from the SEC about possible enforcement action, describing its lawsuit as “a justified response to the SEC’s regulation by the enforcement regime that has harmed more than 50 million of American crypto holders.
Hot CPI data shakes sentiment
Risk appetite was also dented by higher-than-expected inflation data released Thursday, which reinforced bets on a slower pace of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Relatively higher long-term interest rates bode ill for speculative assets such as crypto.
The dollar hit a two-month high this week, putting further pressure on cryptocurrency valuations.
Markets nevertheless maintained their bet that the Fed would continue to reduce interest rates, by at least 25 basis points in November. Some discouraging figures on the job market have reinforced this idea.
Crypto Price Today: Altcoins Muted, Heading for Weekly Losses
Among broader crypto prices, most major altcoins are treading water on Friday and are expected to see slight weekly losses.
The world’s No. 2 crypto stabilized at $2,420.56. , , and climbed between 1% and 3%, while decreasing slightly.
Among meme tokens, added 1.5%.
Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.
