Notable events of the past week include Bitcoin’s inability to remain above $70,000, a 1.5% increase in the difficulty of mining the first cryptocurrency, the SEC’s approval of spot Ethereum-ETFs, and the adoption of FIT21 by the US House of Representatives.
The price of bitcoin drops below $70,000
Beginning the week, the first cryptocurrency was trading at $66,000. Digital gold surged past $71,000 on May 21, but it fell to $67,000 on May 23.
Bitcoin is currently trading at a price below $69,000.
The majority of the top ten digital assets by market cap finished the week on a positive note. Except for Toncoin (-1%), Solana (-3.1%) was an outlier.
The market value of all cryptocurrencies is $2.71 trillion. Here is the Bitcoin dominance index: 54.2%.
The difficulty of mining Bitcoin rose by nearly 1.5 percent.
Next, the difficulty of mining the first cryptocurrency was recalculated and increased by 1.48%, to 84.38 T.
From the last value change until now, the average hashrate has been 705 EH/s. As a result, the algorithm’s recommended 10-minute interval between blocks was shortened to around 8.5 minutes.
In spite of the increase, the challenge was not enough to offset the indicator’s near-6% drop that followed the halving.
Ethereum Spot ETFs Granted SEC Approval
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) authorized the 19b-4 filings of Ethereum-based spot exchange-traded fund issuers on May 23.
Bitwise, ARK Invest/21Shares, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, and Invesco/Galaxy are among the authorized companies. Hashdex, whose application window closes on May 30, was not granted permission by the regulator.
Once the SEC signs the Form S-1 registration statements, trading can start.
Experts in the field claim that the Commission’s approval of the Ethereum ETF amounted to a “implicit admission” that the asset in question does not constitute a security.
The asset’s price dropped to $3,500 amid unfounded speculation that the instrument’s application review would be delayed, and then jumped to $3,900 following the approval of exchange-traded funds.
The current price of one Ethereum token is $3,845.
After the approval of spot exchange-traded funds, analysts at Bernstein predicted that Ethereum would rise to $6,600. According to Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, prices will be “significantly higher than they are now.”
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Lawmakers in the United States House of Representatives have approved crypto industry regulation.
The FIT21 bill, which seeks to regulate the crypto industry in its entirety, was passed by the lower house of the US Congress and addresses the structure of the market.
Out of a total of 279 votes, 136 were cast against the document. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was one of 71 Democrats who voted in favor of the Republican-sponsored bill.
To make FIT21, the initial step in establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets, even better, the Senate and the administration should collaborate. “We need to do more to make sure that consumers, investors, and taxpayers are safe while we lay the groundwork for ethical innovation,” she added.
The bill would grant the CFTC more authority and resources to regulate the spot markets for digital goods and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
FIT21 also establishes a process that digital goods that were “originally offered as part of an investment contract” can be traded on the secondary market. Stablecoins and anti-money laundering measures are a part of the bill.
Patrick McHenry, chair of the financial services committee, brought attention to the fact that the SEC and the CFTC are engaged in a power struggle over the cryptocurrency market.
After the Senate reviews and votes on the bill, it will go to the president for his signature. The administration of Joe Biden officially “opposed” FIT21 prior to the vote, citing concerns that the bill does not offer “sufficient protections for consumers and investors who engage in certain digital asset transactions.”
Having said that, the president has stated that he is prepared to collaborate with lawmakers to develop “a comprehensive and balanced regulatory framework for digital assets.”
Gary Gensler, chairman of the SEC, spoke out against FIT21 just hours before the vote. His argument is that the document will overturn decades of precedent on the oversight of investment contracts while simultaneously opening up new regulatory loopholes.