In only a week, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell from over $30,000 to around $27,600. Nervous stock markets may have led to the nearly 8% drop in BTC. Ethereum (ETH-USD) fell by more, down by 10.5% for the week ended Apr. 22, 2023.
Ether is more sensitive to sentiment. Traditionally, Bitcoin is the “gold” standard of cryptocurrency, so it is less volatile. Year-to-date, the weekly drop is noise. BTC is up 66% in 2023. Investors may count on price charts, moving averages, moving average convergence divergence, and volume, to predict prices. Among those data points, volume matters most. Customers with large Bitcoin holdings on exchanges have the most influence on price movements.
Risks from SEC Regulations
On Apr. 18, 2023, Coinbase (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong said that it may relocate outside the U.S. The CEO is potentially reacting to the Securities and Exchange Commission warning Coinbase about regulator-recommended enforcement. The SEC believes that Coinbase is breaching securities law.
An SEC regulatory crackdown on the crypto market is highly bearish. Whenever that happens, BTC-USD could fall in the thousands of dollars.
Crypto investors should brace for regulation to pressure prices. Fortunately, crypto platforms have the flexibility to relocate. This will sustain the demand for Bitcoin and Ether as a means of exchange.
