Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) drops below $64K, Ether (ETH) drops
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, fell 4% in the last 24 hours to less than $64,000. Ether also saw a significant drop, losing 6%, and the CoinDesk 20 Index, a measure of the broader crypto market, also lost 6%. Reuters reported that U.S. issuers expect the Securities and Exchange Commission to deny their applications to launch spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), after discouraging meetings with the agency in recent weeks. In traditional markets, technology stocks fell after Meta failed to live up to high expectations for its first-quarter earnings report.
BlackRock’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which trades under the ticker IBIT on Nasdaq, fell favor on Wednesday, preliminary data published by Farside Investors showed. For the first time since it went live on January 11, the fund did not withdraw any money from investors, breaking a 71-day streak of inflows. Seven of the other 10 funds followed IBIT’s example. Fidelity’s FBTC and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) saw inflows of $5.6 million and $4.2 million, respectively, while Grayscale’s GBTC bled $130.4 million, leading to a cumulative outflow net of US$120.6 million, the highest since April 17th.
U.S. House Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) indicated that the final version of a stable currency note could be ready soon. “We are on track to get a stablecoin bill in the near term,” the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee told Bloomberg on Wednesday. Waters has previously called a version of the stablecoin bill “deeply problematic and bad for America.” “It’s about making sure investors and people are protected,” Waters told Bloomberg. “We have to make sure they have these assets to back stablecoins,” she said. The latest development bolsters hopes that the US could get a new stablecoin law in place before this year’s elections, which was considered a remote possibility earlier in the year.