Although the U.S. regulators intensify their measures against cryptocurrency exchanges and their staking programmes, it has not stopped Bitcoin (BTC) from reaching $24,600 as of writing — which is the highest point since August 2022. With a market cap of more than $475 billion, BTC has increased 10.90% over the past day.
Many individuals ascribed the rise in BTC prices to a number of factors, including an increase in the value of the dollar and a decline in inflation. According to on-chain statistics, an unknown fund that started investing heavily in the cryptocurrency market on February 10 is responsible for the present upward surge.
Data from Lookonchain shows that in the last six days, institutional funds have invested close to $1.6 billion in the cryptocurrency market. The majority of the $1.6 billion came from stablecoins, particularly the USD Coin (USDC) issued by Circle. Before sending the money to different exchanges, the owner of the funds first retrieved their USDC from Circle.
In the wake of the regulatory action, according to Japan-based Bitcoin Bank analyst Yuya Hasegawa, there is a shift from altcoins to bitcoin.
Hasegawa told CNBC that although the current legal landscape appears to dampen the growth of the cryptocurrency industry, it seems that some capital is shifting from altcoins to bitcoin — the only cryptocurrency that the SEC chair has classified as a “commodity.” As a result, bitcoin is becoming more dominant on the market.
The SEC’s chairman, Gary Gensler, emphasized last year that the organisation regards bitcoin more as a commodity than a security. Gold is an example of a commodity, whereas stocks are thought of as securities.
