BITCOIN prices suffered an overnight blow, plunging by more than $1,000 on Wednesday evening to strike out below the $10,000 mark. But why are bitcoin prices falling today?
Bitcoin took a hit last night after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it will require digital asset exchanges to register with the federal agency.
Prices plunged by more than $1,000 in the space of an hour, falling from $10,673.03 at 4.40pm GMT to $9,481.45 by 5.22pm GMT on Wednesday, according to CoinDesk.
So far on Thursday the token has attempted to claw back its losses, kickstarting trading at $9,906.80 and peaking at $10,030.63 after 1am.
As of 8.33am bitcoin is exchanging hands for $9,865.37 – down 0.42 percent.The SEC announcement last night sparked fears of tighter cryptocurrency regulation, forcing traders to pull back.
According to the agency, digital assets moving through exchanges need to abide by federal laws, to protect investors’ best interests.
The SEC said in a statement: “If a platform offers trading of digital assets that are securities and operates as an 'exchange,' as defined by the federal securities laws, then the platform must register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration.
“The SEC staff has concerns that many online trading platforms appear to investors as SEC-registered and regulated marketplaces when they are not.
COINDESK
Bitcoin price: traders pulled back after the SEC announced tighter regulation of exchanges
“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.”
The decision came in the wake of news hackers have caused “irregular trades” on Binance, one of the word’s biggest and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges.
Though Binance said no traders had their tokens stolen, the hack highlighted security issues that are present in the crypto sphere.
Some have now welcomed the SEC’s move in the wake of recent events, seeing it as a step in the right direction towards protecting customers.
