AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Summary
- BTC is down by almost 11 per cent this week, reflecting a continued volatile trend amid regulation concerns.
- Ether has been trading steadily as compared to Bitcoin, and currently hovering around US$ 1200 per token.
- US President Joe Biden’s nominee for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen changed her stance on cryptocurrencies, suggesting the use of virtual currencies in global transactions.
Bitcoin continued displaying volatility, dipping by 10.8 per cent on Friday morning. The virtual token plunged to US$ 28,845.31, after opening at US$ 32340.44*. The fall came over increased regulation concerns on cryptocurrencies.
This also reflects a 31.22 per cent drop from its all-time high of US$ 41940 on January 8, just two weeks ago.
However, the world’s most popular crypto coin bounced back by the time of writing this and is currently trading at US$ 31,642 per BTC.
Bitcoin has been losing charm amid rising worries that it has been trading unevenly with unprecedented volatility. That being said, the digital currency has returned over 700 per cent as compared to its low of US$ 3850 in March 2020. Its current market cap is US$ 588.76 billion and reflect nearly 10 per cent return at the time of writing this (9:14 am ET, Friday, 22 January 2021).
Meanwhile, Ethereum rebounded to the US$ 1200-mark. The second largest virtual coin has yielded over 67 per cent growth year-to-date while writing this. Ether has a market cap of US$ 137.68 billion.
Bitcoin’s Regulation Concerns
The BTC price dropped abruptly in early 2018, and it was crawling at US$ 4,000 per unit. Post that bubble burst, bitcoin faced criticisms from investors and monetary regulators. Many banks had banned the transactions for bitcoin-trading over fraudulency worries. It still faces a lot of criticism for its anonymous handling.
Major central banks do not consider bitcoin as an option for future transactions and exploring their own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Experts opine that CBDC is likely to be safer and easier to use. This has put bitcoin’s future in a limbo, especially until it gets a green flag from monetary regulators.
Image Source: Kalkine Group @2020
Hopes From Biden Government
Janet Yellen, US President Joe Biden’s nominee for Treasury Secretary and the former Federal Reserve Governor, has now altered her stance on the crypto market.
On Tuesday, she criticized Bitcoin for its connection to illegal activities and terror funding in the past. A day later, she said that Bitcoin and other virtual coins have the capability to enhance global transactions.
Yellen is expected to promote the use of cryptocurrency assets for legal transactions.
* 24-hour-open figure as per Coindesk
