Bitcoin price bounces off $40K low

Bitcoin has advanced 48% so far this year

Bitcoin continued bouncing between losses and gains dipping as low as the $40K level over the past 24 hours before moving back above the $43K level midday. 

  (Courtesy: Coindesk )

The volatility in crypto trading continued even as U.S. stocks moved to recover some of the losses from Monday's China-driven selloff. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 38790.43 +75.66 +0.20%
SP500 S&P 500 5149.42 +32.33 +0.63%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 16103.44802 +130.27 +0.82%

AMC TO ACCEPT LITECOIN, ETHEREUM, ALONG WITH BITCOIN, FOR ONLINE MOVIE TICKET, CONCESSION PURCHASES

In other crypto news, Robinhood Markets Inc. is testing new crypto wallet and cryptocurrency transfer features for its app allowing customers to send and receive digital currencies such as bitcoin, a Reuters report, quoting Bloomberg News, said late Monday.

A beta version of its iPhone app showed the company's work on such features, the report said. 

There was also a hidden image showing a waitlist page for users signing up for a crypto wallet feature, the report added. 

In legal news, a battle involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and fintech startup Ripple Labs could provide clarity on just how much authority the SEC has in regulating the $2.2 -trillion crypto market, as reported by FOX Business. 

SEC VS. RIPPLE CASE COULD ESTABLISH LIMIT ON AGENCY'S FUTURE INVOLVEMENT IN CRYPTO REGULATION: SOURCES

In December 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit alleging Ripple Labs, a global payments platform, had violated securities laws by failing to register its XRP cryptocurrency as a security.

At the time, Ripple was using XRP as a vehicle to finance its core business of seamless cross-border transactions for financial institutions, the SEC charged, something it had been doing for seven years since its founding in 2013.

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The lawsuit not only caught Ripple by surprise but added even more confusion over whether cryptocurrencies should be considered securities, commodities or something else. If cryptos are securities, as defined by court precedent, they must be approved and regulated by the SEC which demands various company disclosures.

Ripple believes XRP isn’t a security, thus it doesn’t need the SEC’s green light. Moreover, it says the SEC currently allows other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum to be traded like commodities; the blockchain networks of these cryptocurrencies aren’t being required to register as a security.