US crackdown has no effect on Bitcoin, Ethereum prices

NEW DELHI: The lawsuits against top crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have not been able to severely impact the price of Bitcoin which is the largest cryptocurrency, and other digital coins.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, hovered around $26,500 per digital coin this week as investors remained largely unstirred by the SEC lawsuits. The leading cryptocurrency took an initial dive below $26,000 on Tuesday but held steady above the threshold throughout the week, with analysts suggesting that investors had already priced in the actions, according to Coindesk.

"It's hard to imagine a tougher regulatory situation facing the digital asset industry in the United States than what's happening right now," Andrew Lawrence, co-founder and CEO of onchain custody platform Censo, was quoted as saying.

"It can feel pretty bleak, and yet there's been a tremendous resilience shown by Bitcoin and other key crypto assets," he added.

Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, held around $1,850, a bullish sign. The digital tokens of Cardano, Solana and Polygon smart contracts protocols, were either flat or up slightly. Popular meme coins DOGE and SHIB were also in the green.

Bitcoin's market value was at $521.9 billion, while trade volume stood at $22.9 billion. According to industry experts, Bitcoin has actually been a beneficiary of the SEC's crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges. Bitcoin and Ether fell just 2 per cent and less than 1 per cent, respectively, over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.

The global crypto market cap decreased 2.7 per cent to $1.1 trillion. Ethereum prices gained over 3.6 per cent to reach $225.71 billion in market cap and trading volume was $9.06 billion.

The SEC's lawsuit against Coinbase came less than 24 hours after the Binance one. Both filings listed a handful of cryptocurrencies as securities, with 12 assets noted in the Binance suit and 13 in the Coinbase one, though the SEC said it was "not limited to" those. "Even through all this chaos, crypto markets weren't hugely altered by the SEC suits. In the initial 24 hours after the two lawsuits, the crypto market was green," according to TechCrunch.

Meanwhile, Binance.US said it was transitioning to an all-crypto exchange as of June 13, citing pressures from the SEC. "While we remain open to a productive compromise that enables a thriving digital asset marketplace in America, Binance.US will continue to vigorously defend ourselves, our customers and the industry against the meritless attacks of the SEC," the exchange said in a tweet.

The SEC has filed for a temporary restraining order to freeze certain assets tied to Binance.US. The SEC also accused Binance of directing $12 billion to firms controlled by CEO Changpeng Zhao, a claim that Zhao and Binance both denied.

In a blog post, Binance said they are disappointed that the SEC "chose to file a complaint against Binance seeking, among other remedies, purported emergency relief".

"From the start, we have actively cooperated with the SEC's investigations and have worked hard to answer their questions and address their concerns. But despite our efforts, with its complaint, the SEC abandoned that process and instead chose to act unilaterally and litigate. We are disheartened by that choice," said the crypto exchange.

The US Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) in March sued Binance for allegedly breaking trading and derivatives rules. IANS

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