Bitcoin Price Spikes Near $6,900 as BitMEX Goes Offline

Bitcoin price took a major leap on Wednesday morning, spiking nearly $300 in less than a minute to break out of what had been two days of mostly sideways trading for the flagship cryptocurrency.

The incident in question occurred at exactly 1:00 UTC, when BTC leaped from $6,466 to $6,745 during a single one-minute candle on Bitfinex, and the bitcoin price continued to increase from there, rising above the $6,800 mark and peaking at $6,899 before settling back down to a present value of $6,840 at 1:34 UTC.

Early indications suggest that the price action, which came during a period of relatively-low trading volume in the cryptocurrency markets, may not be quite organic. That’s because it occurred at nearly the exact moment that BitMEX, a leveraged cryptocurrency trading platform that handles billions of dollars worth of contracts daily, went offline for scheduled maintenance.

Scheduled Maintenance to begin in a few minutes at 01:00 UTC.

— BitMEX (@BitMEXdotcom) August 22, 2018

As of the time of writing, BitMEX was beginning to resume services, though it had not yet re-enabled trading. Consequently, it remains to be seen whether the market will sustain these gains throughout the early morning hours.

Click here for a real-time bitcoin price chart.

Bitcoin has neither dumped nor has broken its crucial resistance level since August 15.

The BTC/USD on Monday started with a bullish promise after snoozing through the whole weekend. The pair confirmed 6346-fiat as a strong support and rose 3.5 percent during the early Asian trading session. As the day progressed, bulls began to lose their grip and price started slipping, only to find itself approaching 6346-fiat again. At the time of this writing, BTC/USD has stabilized amidst 6385-6483 area.

What’s noteworthy, however, is Bitcoin’s contrasting price action with respect to the altcoin market. Almost all the top coins have undergone extensive bearish corrections in the past 24 hours whilst Bitcoin continues to show a relatively stable approach, confirming dominance. Historically, an overlong sideways trend in the Bitcoin market has resulted in a major breakout action.

BTC/USD Technical Analysis

To study a potential breakout, we noticed an ascending triangle formation which, if stood the time, could tell the course of next week. The price is currently holding its leg near 6346-fiat while forming higher lows towards 6500-fiat. Any volatile upside action from here could bring the price closer to testing 6700-fiat in medium-term. The triangle range, in the meantime, offers pretty good opportunities to enter and exit positions on decent profits.

The BTC/USD meanwhile is closely above it’s rising 100H and sideways 200H moving averages, indicating a buying sentiment. The RSI and Stochastic Oscillator indicators are also indicating an upside correction, meaning the price could retest 6500-fiat anytime today. Overall, the bias is slightly bullish.

BTC/USD Intraday Analysis

According to our intraday analysis, we are now looking at 6346-fiat as our interim support and 6500-fiat as our interim resistance. This is the range we are watching for today.

So, our first action would be to place a long position towards 6500-fiat, as a part of our intra-range strategy, while placing our stop loss a 2-pips below the entry position. In case we break above the resistance level, we will put another long towards ascending triangle resistance (~6650-fiat). Putting stop loss 3-pips below our entry position will define our risk management perspective.

Conversely, a pullback from resistance – or anywhere before – will allow us to enter a short position towards 6346-fiat, while a stop loss anywhere 3-pips above the entry position will minimize our losses in case the trend reverses.

The first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is expected to be approved by February of 2019. But, some experts have stated that ETFs may increase the volatility of the market.

How the ETF Will Impact the Market

Over the past few months, analysts have been divided on the effect of the ruling of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding Bitcoin ETFs on the crypto market.

Brian Kelly, a contributor to CNBC’s Fast Money and the CEO at BKCM, previously explained that the rise in the price of Bitcoin from the lower end of $7,000 to $8,000 in early August could be attributed to the increasing hype around Bitcoin ETFs.

Last week, as the price of BTC dropped substantially against the US dollar, Kelly emphasized that the SEC’s rejection of the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF likely had an impact on the market and that investors have overreacted to the news.

Recently, in a Q&A session, well respected cryptocurrency researcher and security expert Andreas Antonopoulos disclosed his stance on Bitcoin ETFs, firmly stating that he is against the introduction of ETFs in regulated markets.

Antonopoulos said that while ETFs have the ability to open the Bitcoin market to a group of institutional investors and retail traders that have not been able to trade the dominant cryptocurrencies due to issues pertaining to regulation, they also provide a platform for large investors to manipulate the price of BTC.

He explained:

“Everybody is so excited about ETFs. What we have seen in other markets is that when an ETF becomes available, the price really increases dramatically, as suddenly that commodity becomes available to a lot more investors and these investors pile on. But, the other side of it, is that there are always these claims that the commodities markets are heavily manipulated and opening up these ETFs only increase the ability of institutional investors to manipulate the prices of commodities.”

It is possible, given that the ETF of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and VanEck-SolidX may lead to billions of dollars in new capital into the Bitcoin market, that the price of BTC sways by large margins on both the upside and downside during the operating hours of the US stock market, if an ETF is launched.

Unlike futures contracts, in the ETF market, investors do not necessarily have the motivation or the incentive to intentionally bring down the price of Bitcoin by manipulating its price trend. But, for instance, if a group of investors decide to utilize the ETF market to manipulate the price of BTC to record gains in the futures market, the Bitcoin market could become significantly more volatile.

ETF, Futures, and Long-Term Growth

In the long run, as more publicly tradable investment vehicles are introduced by regulated financial institutions and the liquidity of Bitcoin drastically improves, it will become difficult to manipulate the price trend of the crypto market.

However, in a period of instability, high volatility, and fast growth, publicly tradable investment vehicles could provide enough leverage to large investors that are capable of reversing market trends.

Crypto exchange Coinbase recently filed for a patent detailing a new system to enable online users to make Bitcoin payments more securely. The patent, filed on August 14, will allow users to make payments directly from their Bitcoin wallet.

The patent cites the issue of customers being required to compromise on the security of their own private keys, saying:

“Existing systems do not provide a solution for maintaining security over private keys while still allowing the users to checkout on a merchant page and making payments using their wallets.”

The new system will enable users to pay directly in a “key ceremony” which encrypts private user passphrases into a masterkey during checkout to greatly reduce the risk of the keys being stolen. The masterkey serves the function of encrypting private keys and transaction signing, and upon being used the masterkey is deleted.

The system allows for administrators to freeze all processes using what is described as “freeze logic,” presumably in the event that a user reports that they are being hacked or their identity is being assumed.

“At any point in time after the master key is loaded, the system can be frozen. The system can be unfrozen after it has been frozen using keys from the key ceremony. The checkout process can be carried out when the system is frozen and when the system is unfrozen. The payment process can only be carried out when the system is unfrozen.”

The patent also describes an API generation service that will enable the payment system to be used by other websites and services. The API has two parts, one of which will be stored on the Coinbase web service and the other on the user/host server to allow for an extra security measure as transactions are confirmed “only if the API key received from the web server matches the API key stored by the service.” Such a payment system that allows secure Bitcoin payments on multiple websites could stand to be widely adopted throughout the cryptocurrency and e-commerce space.

Coinbase has applied for numerous Bitcoin-related patents in the past, with nine filed in 2015 alone leading to critics accuse the exchange of seeking to create a monopoly on Bitcoin services, which CEO Brian Armstrong denied in a blog post on Medium which stated that the goal was to keep the technology out of the hands of patent trolls who would patent services and hold them for ransom.

In 2016, the exchange filed for a patent to secure Bitcoin private keys, and in a sense, this new system can be seen as a continuation of that which will allow other businesses to use the Coinbase Bitcoin payment portal.

In the past 24 hours, despite the strong downtrend of major cryptocurrencies, the crypto market demonstrated a quick recovery from this week’s losses.

On August 14, as the BItcoin price dipped below the $6,000 mark, the valuation of the crypto market plummeted below the $200 billion mark. At its lowest point of this year, the valuation of the crypto market reached $194 billion, led by the poor performance of Ethereum, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash.

What Drove the Corrective Rally?

If the market does not see a strong spike in volume or momentum, its losses will continue throughout the week.

“Based on the analysis of Woo, a likely scenario for Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market is to record another major drop in the near future, bottoming out at a lower range of prices, and demonstrating stability before initiating a proper mid-term rally”

A major drop of the crypto market in the short-term is still a possibility, given that the corrective rally of the market was not as strong as investors hoped it would be, but as of current, the sentiment of investors is generally positive.

Some analysts, including CNBC’s Fast Money contributor Brian Kelly, suggested that the quick recovery of the crypto market recorded on August 16 was caused by the closure of the US Bitcoin futures market, creating a short squeeze.

He explained that in the Bitcoin futures market, investors are incentivized to intentionally bring down the price of Bitcoin to cash out their short contracts and the simultaneous movements of a large number of retail traders to dump BTC on the market may have caused the previous drop.

Kelly added that if the price of BTC can increase 10 to 15 percent in the near future, possibly to the $7,000 region, the price of other major cryptocurrencies and tokens will follow. He said:

“They (altcoins) are still quite correlated (with Bitcoin). Over the last 60 days or so, Bitcoin has really been the leader — a lot of that had to do with the speculation about an ETF. But what you did see today is stuff like Ethereum almost 10% off yesterday’s lows, stuff like Stellar Lumens — still holding up quite well. So yes, if you get a 10 or 15 percent run on Bitcoin on a short squeeze, it should bring everything else back up.”

Strong Performance by Tokens

Last week, CCJ explained that in a bear market or downtrend, investors are reluctant towards taking high-risk high-return trades. Consequently, the global crypto market has seen the rise of the Bitcoin dominance index to 53 percent, as investors moved their capital out of tokens and small market cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin.

As BTC recovered to $6,400 from $5,950, the price of tokens such as Ontology and VeChain increased by 20 to 30 percent against the US dollar, becoming the best performing currencies in the market on the day.

California-based asset manager Reality Shares has become the latest competitor in the Bitcoin hedge fund space, an anonymous source told Business Insider August 15.

Reality Shares, which became known in the cryptocurrency space this year after launching the first Chinese blockchain ETF in June, has reportedly already attracted $25 million for the fund.

Capped at $100 million, the multi-strategy fund would “be a mix of arbitrage, venture, and directional strategies,” the unnamed person “familiar with the firm’s plan” told the publication.

The 2018 bear market in cryptocurrencies has made life difficult for hedge fund operators, which number over 360 as of August.

Industry commentators have raised concerns that continued market suppression would lead to the closure of over 10 percent of said hedge funds by next year.

“People are able to leverage good returns last year to try to raise money this year, but this year is going to be different,” fund investor Rick Marini told Bloomberg about the downturn in April.

Venture capitalist Spencer Bogart meanwhile told CNBC in late June that hedge fund activity could in fact “artificially” lower Bitcoin prices.

Should Reality Shares raise the full $100 million amount, its fund would rival the only 28 that have passed the figure.

Over the past 12 hours, Bitcoin and Ethereum have risen by more than 9% percent in value, but some analysts are still not convinced about the short-term trend of the crypto market.

Generally Positive Sentiment

The quick recovery of Bitcoin and Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, has led the general sentiment of the market to become more positive.

Ether, which plunged by nearly 20 percent on August 14, showed strong movements today, increasing from $250 to $280.

Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Ripple, NEO, and other major cryptocurrencies also surged in value and volume on August 15, recording 5 to 10 percent gains in a relative short period.

However, the corrective rally recorded today was not as strong as investors expected it to be. In consideration of the steep drop in value the crypto market recorded over the past 72 hours, investors predicted a more strong bounce from previous levels. But, Bitcoin, Ether, and Bitcoin Cash, which recorded solid gains in the last 12 hours, have started to demonstrate a downward trend once again.

Willy Woo, a well respected cryptocurrency investor and analyst who predicted the price of Bitcoin to drop below the $6,000 mark since May of this year, recently said that the market will likely experience another drop before its next mid-term rally.

Woo specifically said that Bitcoin will likely test the $6,000 support level once again in the near future, even if Bitcoin recovers beyond the $7,000 mark and the market sees a convincing rebound.

“Leveraged short positions now near all time high. Anyone got a spare $35m in their trade account? Should be enough to trigger all those stops for a payday,” Woo said, referencing his previous statement made on August 13:

“The 3rd dead kitten. Fractally speaking, I’m framing this last down leg as an oscillation around the main move. The green line is just magic crayons for short range TAs to determine, the retest target and rate of decline are the things I’m watching. NVT only mildly supports this.”

Where Does the Market go Next?

Based on the analysis of Woo, a likely scenario for Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market is to record another major drop in the near future, bottoming out at a lower range of prices, and demonstrating stability before initiating a proper mid-term rally.

The lack of momentum, volume, and stability in the market has decreased the probability of a mid-term rally in the near future, and as BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes stated before, the market will not be able to support a huge spike in price with its current price trend.

More to that, the increasing dominance index of Bitcoin, the most dominant cryptocurrency in the market, shows the lack of confidence of investors in high-risk high-return investments, which generally means the market is unstable and hugely volatile.

It is possible that Bitcoin continues its corrective rally towards the $7,000 mark and records a strong bounce before the next fall, but it is also possible, if BTC fails to secure momentum in mid-$6,000, that it falls below $6,000 once again.

Marijuana culture media group High Times Holding Corp. has decided not to accept Bitcoin (BTC) in its initial public offering (IPO), according to an August 13 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The decision runs counter to the company’s Aug. 3 announcement, where it stated it will accept cryptocurrencies in order to attract investors.

In the beginning of August, High Times published a press release saying it would accept BTC and Ethereum (ETH) as a method of payment for subscription to the company’s shares. In the run-up to the IPO, High Times filed a Regulation A+ offering that enables smaller businesses to raise up to $50 million of funding from the general public within a 12-month period.

While High Times initially claimed that accepting cryptocurrencies in its IPO would make it the “first traditional stock offering ever to accept investments” in digital currencies, the SEC file states that the announcement was a mistake:

“This press release was distributed in error as the Company will not be accepting Bitcoin as payment for shares. As provided in the Company’s subscription agreement related to the offering, the Company will only be accepting check, credit card, ACH or wire transfer as payment for subscription to shares.”

The SEC document does not give reference to the other digital currency, ETH, which was also mentioned as a method of payment in the original press release.

Cryptocurrencies have been seen by many in the cannabis industry as a solution to banking bans and some of the industry’s legal woes by becoming an alternative to cash payments while the drug still remains illegal at the federal level. Banks’ unwillingness to deal with cannabis-related payments means that customers cannot use credit or debit cards to make purchases. A lack of banking makes marijuana dispensaries targets for robbers and thieves due to the large amount of cash on hand.

In order to create a better environment for the industry’s vendors, the digital currency Dash partnered with blockchain startup Alt Thirty Six in 2017 to integrate Dash as a payment option in the cannabis industry’s point of sale system. Dash claimed that providing a cashless option could save merchants up to 15 percent.

Bitcoin (BTC) prices fell below $6,000 for the first time since the end of June Tuesday, August 14, as the cryptocurrency community remains resilient.

All major assets in the red as Bitcoin falls almost 5 percent in 24 hours. Top ten coins are seeing as much as 17 percent losses on the day, with top fifteen coins are down as much 20 percent over the same period.

Market visualization from Coin360

At press time, BTC/USD traded just above the significant barrier around $6,100, capping weekly losses of 14 percent.

The pair has come full circle since mid-July, when a sudden bull market took over to bring prices to a peak around $8,450 across major exchanges.

Progress then reversed as August began, meaning investors have seen monthly gains to date of just 3 percent.

The figures nonetheless set Bitcoin apart from altcoins, and specifically Ethereum (ETH), losses of which extend to 16 percent on the day and almost 35 percent on the week.

Over the past 30 days, ETH/USD has slipped almost 40 percent.

On social media, commentators were eyeing the knock-on effect Bitcoin prices volatility traditionally has on altcoin markets, producing higher moves both up and down in those assets.

As Bitcoin dominance –– or the percentage of total crypto market cap that is Bitcoin’s –– hits highs not seen since December 2017, Twitter analysts are similarly calling for a repeat of the altcoin bull market which began in the latter half of that month.

Higher Bitcoin market dominance, they claim, is apt to produce a U-turn in altcoins’ downtrend.

Others were altogether less sure. In comments Monday, Xapo president Ted Rogers considered current conditions conducive to producing an “extinction-level event” for cryptocurrencies en masse.

“90%+ of CoinMarketCap list will disappear eventually – might as well happen now,” he warned Monday.

Elsewhere, other major assets have shed 10 to 15 percent of their value

Earlier this week, the cryptocurrency markets slumped: Bitcoin (BTC) lost its $6,500 support, and Ethereum (ETC) dropped well below the $400 mark (rates stand at $6,620 and $319 respectively by the press time). While it’s important to remember that on such a volatile and scarcely regulated market, news might affect the prices to a lesser degree, and the recent drop correlated with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decision to postpone its verdict on the listing and trading of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) until late September.

The SEC has gained the reputation of being a major news-maker in the cryptocurrency field: The watchdog’s decisions toward the market have been associated with a number of price drops and bull runs.

SEC deems DAO tokens to be illegal securities

When: July 2017

Alleged reaction: Slightly bearish

In July 2017, the SEC came through with a major decision, putting its mark of interest on the crypto market. The regulator reviewed the infamous decentralized autonomous organization (DOA) case and concluded that DAO tokens, issued via its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) back in 2016, were in fact securities and hence had to register with the SEC beforehand.

By making that move, the SEC effectively showed that many other ICOs, which were abundant during their unregulated, ‘free run’ throughout the 2016-2017 period, might be in trouble as well. In order to determine if an ICO constitutes a security or not, the SEC usually applies the Howey Test — essentially, if a token is marketed as a profit-oriented asset, most likely it will be deemed a security being offered by the agency. However, the watchdog has explained that such decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, as the facts and circumstances of any investment transaction — including economic realities — will determine whether the transaction constitutes the offer of sale of a security.

Even though the SEC decided not press any charges that time, it gave a clear signal that the ICO frenzy could be over. Nevertheless, the market barely reacted: While the top five coins fell in price on the day of the announcement, the overall reaction wasn’t dramatic. Ethereum went down about 10 percent, but soon bounced back to its previous value. It might have been the result of market volatility rather than the SEC news, as such.

The SEC denies second Winklevoss ETF application

When: July 2018

Alleged reaction: Slightly bearish

The prospect of getting an authority-sanctioned, crypto-backed ETF has been widely discussed in the crypto community. Some believe it will provoke mass adoption, and the prices will ascend, while others remain skeptical — leaning toward crypto-anarchic sentiments. The SEC gets to decide if the industry is ready for an ETF, and the watchdog hasn’t been particularly optimistic thus far.

In either case, the market tends to react to most ETF-related news. A stark example is the recent SEC’s denial of the Winklevoss twins second application on July 26, which happened just prior to the latest ETF-induced panic in the market. The SEC wasn’t convinced by the Winklevoss’ plea that Bitcoin markets are “inherently resistant to manipulation,” which was among the primary reasons for the rejection.

As mentioned above, the Winklevoss brothers had tried registering a Bitcoin ETF before — their first attempt dates back to 2013. That time, it took the SEC four years to come up with a decision: Finally, on March 10 of last year, the agency denied the initial application based on concerns “that significant markets for Bitcoin are unregulated.”

Both times, the market reacted negatively. In March 2017, the price of Bitcoin fell from $1,300 to around $1,100 in a single day. In July 2018, BTC lost over $400 within the span of just three hours, although it managed to regain its value within the following 24 hours — SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce’s statement of official dissent, which was published soon after the hearing, could have helped in that rebound. In it, she opined that the agency’s move “sends a strong signal that innovation is unwelcome in our markets, a signal that may have effects far beyond the fate of Bitcoin ETPs [Exchange Traded Products],” recognizing the SEC’s influence in the market.

The SEC denies VanEck SolidX ETF request

When: August 2018

Alleged reaction: Strongly bearish

Similarly, this catastrophic week on the crypto market is largely associated with the SEC postponing its decision on the listing and trading of a Bitcoin ETF powered by investment firm VanEck and financial services company SolidX until Sept. 30.

The VanEck SolidX ETF application was submitted in June and was generally considered to be the most promising among crypto-backed ETFs: It didn’t feature bold assumptions akin to the one submitted by the Winklevoss twins that claimed BTC markets are “inherently resistant to manipulation.” Moreover, the VanEck SolidX fund is physically backed — meaning that it will actually hold BTC — and both firms have reassured that this will protect against the loss or theft of the cryptocurrency. According to their filing with the SEC, each share of the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust is set to cost a hefty $200,000. As SolidX CEO Daniel Gallancy explained to CNBC, the price is set at a higher rate to focus on institutional investors, and the fund hopes to get listed on the Cboe BZX Equities Exchange.

On Aug. 7, the SEC issued a document citing their right to extend the review period. It also stated that the agency had received more than 1,300 comments on the proposed rule change to list and trade the VanEck SolidX BTC shares. Per the document, within 45 days of the filing of a proposed rule change — the trust submitted their application on June 6 — or within 90 days, should the Commission deem necessary, the Commission will approve, disapprove or extend the period of consideration.

While the news seemed rather neutral, and essentially meant that the SEC simply needs more time to rule whether the crypto industry is suitable for an ETF at the moment, panic induced and the markets plummeted: After solid growth to break above the $7,000 mark earlier that day, BTC saw a loss of around $500 in six hours and has lost around 12 percent this week. Similarly, other coins crashed as well — e.g., Ripple (XRP) lost as much as 23 percent of its value since the news was announced.

On the other hand, bullish news on the market that came out recently, like the announcement of upcoming cryptocurrency project Bakkt by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which operates 23 large global exchanges — including New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) — appeared to be largely ignored. In an interview with CNBC, Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead claimed that investors were “overreacting” to the SEC postponing the ETF hearing. He predicted that a Bitcoin ETF approval will take “quite a long time,” citing the nascent stage of crypto adoption. The hedge fund manager also stressed that the most recent asset that gained approval from the SEC for ETF certification was copper, a metal that “has been on earth for 10,000 years.”

SEC and CFTC held a joint meeting where they recognized cryptocurrencies’ importance

When: February 2018

Alleged reaction: Strongly bullish

On Feb. 6, the SEC — along with the Commodities and Future Trading Commission (CFTC) — held a highly anticipated joint hearing in which they elaborated on their stance toward cryptocurrencies, ICOs and blockchain technology. During the meeting, the regulators gave credit to the cryptocurrency industry for adding a new paradigm to the financial system, stressed the importance of fair regulatory frameworks and famously said that “if there was no Bitcoin, there would be no blockchain.”

Consequently, that promoted a bullish trend, and the community reaction following the hearing had a positive effect on the crypto market — which was staggering at the time, likely due to China reiteration of it’s zero-tolerance of crypto, rumors of a ban in India and some mainstream banks prohibiting cryptocurrency purchases with their credit cards. After the SEC/CFTC showed their positive stance in regard to some crypto industries features, Bitcoin and Ethereum saw 20 percent growth in value, and the rest of the cryptocurrency market rallied into the green.

SEC rules that BTC and ETH are “not securities”

When: June 2018

Alleged reaction: Slightly bullish

The SEC’s approach to cryptocurrencies is still not crystal clear. However, at this point it becomes evident that, while the agency considers most ICOs to be securities, the two leading cryptos — Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) — are not seen as such. That sentiment was recently voiced by Jay Clayton, the chair of the SEC, who declared that BTC is not a security because it acts as a replacement for sovereign currencies:

“Replace the dollar, the yen, the euro with Bitcoin. That type of currency is not a security.”

Soon after the news broke, Bitcoin’s price went from $7,525 up to $7,728 within 24 hours, showing a slight growth.

A couple of days after that, William Hinman, the director of the SEC’s division of corporation finance, claimed that Ethereum (ETH) isn’t a security either, putting an end to a months-long dilemma that could have potentially ended up with Ethereum’s 2014 ICO being outlawed:

“Putting aside the fundraising that accompanied the creation of Ether, based on my understanding of the present state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions[…] And, as with Bitcoin, applying the disclosure regime of the federal securities laws to current transactions in Ether would seem to add little value.”

That signal was positive for ETH, meaning that it wouldn’t face any charges. Consequently, the coin’s price rose as much as 11 percent, up to $520.68.

The SEC reminds that exchanges should be registered with the agency

When: March 2018

Alleged reaction: Slightly bearish

In March 2018, the SEC issued a public warning aimed at crypto exchanges. The watchdog explicitly stated that platforms who trade “securities” — and the SEC deems many altcoins as such — “must register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration.” The announcement read:

“The SEC staff has concerns that many online trading platforms appear to investors as SEC-registered and regulated marketplaces when they are not.  Many platforms refer to themselves as ‘exchanges,’ which can give the misimpression to investors that they are regulated or meet the regulatory standards of a national securities exchange.”

Hence, major crypto exchanges were urged to comply with the SEC’s regulations, entailing a strick Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering( ATL) approach, among other things — some major U.S.-based exchanges, like Coinbase, have since tried to register with the authority.

The news coincided with a noticeable downtrend in the market: For instance, BTC went down 8.6 percent from 24 hours earlier, losing its $10,000 support. However, the surge could have been initiated by other factors, such as rumours about an alleged Binance security breach that were spreading around the time.