Bitcoin rises to $77.5k as markets look past Clarity setback
Bitcoin rose on Friday, reversing most of its weekly losses as encouraging regulatory moves from the SEC helped markets look past the failure of the Clarity Act in Congress.
Broader cryptocurrency markets also advanced, as risk appetite was aided by falling oil prices and Treasury yields. Dovish signals from the Bank of Japan added to risk appetite.
Bitcoin rose 1.4% to $77,560.9 by 02:17 ET (06:17 GMT). The world’s largest crypto was trading flat for the week after recouping a bulk of its initial losses.
SEC approves tokenized stocks after Clarity setback
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday introduced a long-awaited exemption allowing companies to offer trading in blockchain-based, or “tokenized” stocks and other securities.
The market watchdog offered a five-year exemption to platforms facilitating the trade of tokenized stocks. The tokens are essentially digital assets that represent a stock, and are traded chiefly on a blockchain.
The exemption could help bring digital assets more in line with traditional finance, and is also expected to further the SEC’s eventual goal of facilitating 24-hour trade.
The tokenization exemption broadly helped crypto markets look past the failure of the Clarity act, and spurred confidence that U.S. regulatory bodies could pass their own regulation for the industry without the need for Congress.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins signaled as much after the Senate struck down the Clarity Act, stating that the watchdog will proceed with its own regulatory approvals.
But analysts argue that only Congress can pass lasting regulation, and that any regulations passed without legislation will be vulnerable to future changes in political environment, or even legal challenges.
Crypto price today: altcoins firm, reverse weekly losses
Broader crypto prices firmed on Friday and also reversed most of their declines from earlier this week. A sustained drop in oil prices– amid some signs of improving Saudi Arabian supplies– encouraged markets, as did a drop in Treasury yields, after the Fed’s rate hike this week provided some much-needed clarity to markets.
World no.2 crypto Ether rose 1.8% to $2,485.0, while XRP added 1.7%.
Altcoins blazed past Bitcoin on Friday, given that the SEC’s tokenization exemption stands to mainly benefit blockchains apart from Bitcoin. Several major altcoin blockchains already offer tokenized stocks.
Solana rose 5.9%, Cardano rallied 8%, while BNB jumped 3.8%.
Memcoins Dogecoin and $TRUMP added about 4% apiece.
