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This week was a total disappointment for Bitcoin (BTC). According to data from CoinGecko, its price is currently $30,612, or more or less where we were seven days ago. Its return over a year is more than 50%.
The price of Ethereum (ETH) increased by 1.9% in the last seven days, to $1.923. Several altcoins which had been classified as securities were reclassified in the last week by the SEC in its numerous lawsuits against the industry. Polygon (MATIC) and Cardano (ADA) remain virtually unchanged since last week, while Solana (SOL) rallied by 10% and traded at $18.35.
No notable losses were seen in the top coins this week, although there were several notable gains of over 10%. Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) saw a remarkable rally, with the former rising 18% to $105.18, and the latter blowing up with a staggering 52.6% to $291.31.
Headlines
Monday saw Swiss National Bank Chairman Thomas Jordan speaking at the Point Zero Forum in Zurich, saying that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) will be tested on the country’s first regulated crypto exchange called the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX). Jordan was insistent that this was not a simple test balloon. “This is not just an experiment, it will be real money equivalent to bank reserves,” he told the audience. “The objective is to test real transactions with market participants.”
The same day, HSBC Hong Kong announced its customers are eligible to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum Futures on the bank’s “Easy Invest” mobile app.
On Tuesday, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs committee announced its decision to include crypto assets to be subject to new regulations in the Capital Requirements Regulation Directive. This was in response to lawmakers’ requests for stringent regulations to prevent “unbacked cryptocurrencies” from infiltrating traditional financial systems.
The Bank of England’s director of fintech said, meanwhile, that the British Central bank was open to the possibility of a British CBDC (or “Britcoin”). However, a forum of technologists held by the bank recently to discuss this issue did not seem convinced that blockchain-based systems offer more efficiency over conventional ledgers.
Over in Canada, a group of thirty Canadian Senators published a report endorsing cryptocurrency and blockchain technology with 16 recommendations to the government of the country for a national crypto strategy. The group has said the industry offers “significant long-term economic and job creation opportunities”.
On Thursday, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 was officially implemented by a press release after receiving Royal Assent. The new law recognizes crypto trading as a regulated activity, defining crypto assets as “cryptographically secured digital representation of value or contractual rights” and considering them as regulated products, financial instruments or investments.
The industry is still reeling from the news last week that the world’s largest asset management company, BlackRock, has applied to the SEC for a spot Bitcoin ETF. BlackRock has submitted ETF proposals to SEC 576 times, and only one has been rejected. Fidelity, ARK Invest and other companies have also applied to the SEC since the BlackRock announcement. However, reports have appeared to indicate that insiders at the chief U.S. securities regulator believe that the current system of assessing the effectiveness of a product is inadequate.
