Investing.com — Prices fell on Thursday, but there was little reassurance as concerns about high interest rates in the U.S. and pressure from increased regulatory scrutiny of some of the biggest players in the crypto industry continued.
The token was once again drifting toward the lower end of the trading range seen throughout most of the past two months. Bitcoin also fell to $57,000 in late April, entering a bear market from its all-time high in early March.
Bitcoin has fallen 1.65% over the past 24 hours to $61,215 by 8:28 p.m. ET (12:28 p.m. Japan time). The token was also reeling from sustained outflows from crypto investment products, particularly Spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds.
Regulatory concerns continue to chip away at Bitcoin
Even after trading apps, concerns about increased US regulatory oversight of cryptocurrencies remain robinhood market Inc. (NASDAQ:) announced that it is facing regulatory action from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the trading of crypto tokens on its platform.
Potential lawsuit against Robinhood could be added to current lawsuits the SEC already has against the exchange coinbase global Inc. (NASDAQ:) and XRP Issuer , both of which are expected to determine the nature of their cryptocurrencies under U.S. law.
The SEC is also reportedly investigating the security nature of the world's second largest token. Regulators delayed their decision to approve the Spot Ethereum ETF this week, making it unlikely they will approve the ETF until the investigation is complete.
A report released earlier this week claims that over 90% of all stablecoin transactions are artificial, increasing regulatory scrutiny of the sector, a key pillar of the crypto industry. There are growing concerns that this may happen.
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Crypto market faces potential headwinds as $2 billion in altcoins unlocked
As cryptocurrencies are still in a correction phase, a series of supply events worth billions of dollars could further delay a significant recovery.
The unlocking of around $2 billion worth of tokens over the next 10 weeks could have a negative impact on the altcoin market, according to a Wednesday report from 10x Research.
These unlocks often have a bearish impact because they increase supply by releasing assets previously held in vesting contracts to team members, organizations, venture capitalists, and other early investors.
Approximately $97 million to Aptos (APT), $79 million to StarkWare (STRK), $94 million to Arbitrum (ARB), $53 million to Immutable X (IMX), and $300 million to (AVAX) over the next two months. 30 million, the report said, among others, Optimism (OP), $28 million PRIME, and nearly $1 billion Sui (SUI) will be introduced into circulation.
“Venture capital investors may be under pressure to lock in recent gains, and positive momentum could cap the upside performance of tokens, especially as unlocking becomes available. ” states the report.
Additionally, more than $11 billion in Bitcoin will be distributed to creditors of Gemini's Earn Program and the now-defunct Mt. Gox cryptocurrency market, according to a Tuesday report by K33 Research analyst Werte Runde. It's planned.
“The next few months are shaping up to be a wave of good old-fashioned crypto FUD,” Lunde said, referring to the popular acronym for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD).
Recent reports also indicate that customers of the now-defunct exchange FTX will get their deposits back with interest, although it is unclear whether the payments will be in cash or cryptocurrency.
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Cryptocurrency prices today: Altcoins move lower, awaiting further rate clues
Besides Bitcoin, other major crypto tokens also saw little gains on Thursday. Ethereum fell 0.7%, down 1.7%, while XRP rose 1.5%.
Traders remained largely biased toward the dollar after a series of Federal Reserve officials warned that U.S. interest rates are likely to remain high for an extended period of time into 2024, reflecting the risk This does not bode well for the high crypto market.
The focus going forward is on future comments from more Fed speakers, as well as the main US speakers scheduled for next week.
