Cryptocurrency update: Bitcoin bounds upwards

Bitcoin continues its big comeback by reaching five-month highs in trading this morning.

Cryptocurrency update

Buoyant Bitcoin clears $57,000

The Bitcoin rally looks like it’s got some teeth.

The token reached its highest levels since May on Monday morning after clearing the $57,000 mark. Prices have subsequently pulled back, leaving BTC at around $56,500, but the coin is still up around 4.75% on the day.

This comes after Bitcoin notched 14% gains across last week. For the last two consecutive weeks, BTC has made double-digit gains.

Things are bullish in Bitcoin town.

For now, Bitcoin appears to be more resilient against potential macro trends that usually send the token’s price on a wild spiral. For example, China’s continued crypto crackdown does not seem to have blunted Bitcoin’s edge at all.

Other revelations like the Soros Foundation announcing it had started investing in Bitcoin have helped. These include US SEC Chairman Gary Gensler coming out and saying the Securities and Exchange Commission has no plans to pull a Beijing and ban Bitcoin transactions in the US.

Even the anti-crypto comments JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon made last week were not enough to knock BTC of its stride.

However, regulatory reform is probably on its way. Certainly, the perceived threat digital token traders have felt regarding tighter regulation has caused price wobbles in the past. Will a White House executive order waylay Bitcoin’s progress? Reports indicate that reform could be closer than it looks.

Is the White House planning a crypto regulation surprise?

Reports from Washington suggest the Biden administration is working on an executive order that could lead to wider crypto industry regulation.

According to White House insiders speaking to Bloomberg, the order would see the creation of federal agencies tasked with making recommendations on Bitcoin and Crypto. It would also touch on financial regulation, economic innovation, and national security.

A new crypto Czar could even be appointed if the order goes through.

That said, there is no hard or fast date attached to this measure. A White House spokesperson told Bloomberg that, regardless of the order making it into law, the US’ crypto strategy will be made public. It’s just a question of when.

Pressure has been building on US financial authorities to make some sort of noise regarding crypto. The market has been burning white-hot for the past couple of years, and with markets caps zig-zagging between $1.5 and $2 trillion given BTC’s performance, it’s clear something has to budge.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been agitating for a regulatory framework for digital currency regulation for some time now. Elizabeth Warren is also one of the influential voices calling for more to be done.

We don’t know when regulation will be stepped up in the US – but if these reports are accurate then we may see some sort of framework or regulatory tightening in the near future.

Blockchain firm ConsenSys announces funding round

ConsenSys, a blockchain firm specialising in Ethereum-based projects, is in talks for a new funding round. The Brooklyn-based business is hoping this fresh cash injection would take its value up to $3bn.

If it does reach this valuation, then ConsenSys would be a good case study in just how much blockchain and digital finance systems have expanded over the past 18 months.

In April, the business acquired $65m from the likes of JPMorgan and Mastercard in April. According to reports, ConsenSys is looking to raise $250m in its current funding round. Golden Tree Asset Management and Arca are alleged to be holding talks with ConsenSys.

ConsenSys mostly operates on the Ethereum platform, which is fuelled by the token of the same name.

Its projects have been used in several major Decentralised Finance (DeFi) operations. The most prominent of these is MetaMask – an important gateway for the DeFi ecosystem. More than $9bn has been facilitated by MetaMask via its token swap feature across its lifetime so far.