Investing.com– The stabilized on Monday after falling into a trading range just below the coveted $100,000 level, while XRP rose amid speculation that the SEC may drop its lawsuit against the transmitter.
The world's largest cryptocurrency has fallen into a trading range between $90,000 and $100,000 over the past two weeks, after hitting a series of record highs. While bitcoin remains within sight of a peak above $99,000, some optimism about its prospects has cooled as we await further clues on U.S. politics.
rose 0.1% to $96,5442 as of 7:45 a.m. A recent rally in crypto markets has been fueled primarily by optimism of a Donald Trump presidency, which is expected to lead to more favorable regulation of cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin suffers profit-taking, traders seek political clarity
Bitcoin's performance over the past two weeks has also been influenced by some profit-taking at record levels.
Traders were now seeking more clarity on what Trump's policies would mean for cryptocurrency, after he promised to make the United States the cryptocurrency capital of the world, and even launched the idea of a strategic bitcoin reserve.
Trump's picks for Treasury Secretary and Commerce Secretary are both crypto-friendly, while reports suggest he may also choose a crypto-friendly candidate to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. securities and foreign exchange).
XRP Becomes Third Largest Crypto on SEC Speculation
The surged nearly 33% to $2.46 on Monday, dethroning the stablecoin to become the third-largest crypto by market capitalization, at $140.13 billion, according to Coinmarketcap data.
The token has been fueled largely by speculation that an imminent change at the top of the SEC will cause the regulator to drop its long-standing lawsuit against XRP issuer Ripple.
Gary Gensler, chairman of the SEC, has said he will resign when Trump takes office in January, and recent reports suggest former commissioner Paul Atkins could replace him. Mr. Atkins has openly expressed his support for digital assets.
Traders also speculated that Trump could shift regulation of cryptocurrencies to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rather than the SEC. The CFTC is expected to take a less strict stance on regulating the industry.
Cryptocurrency Prices Today: Altcoins Hold Range-bound
Cryptocurrency prices remained tentative on Monday as traders looked for clues on what policy to follow. Risk appetite was also dented by Trump's threat to impose high tariffs on BRICS bloc countries.
The world's No. 2 crypto fell 0.5% to $3,667.0.
and lost between 3% and 5%, while increased by 4.3%.
